A Beacon to a Candle's Flame
by hardshocker2
Summary: With the dream of becoming a Huntress on her mind, Cadenza Belladonna dives into Beacon with full intent of proving herself and surpassing the many others who have been down her path before. With the support of her family, she begins her journey. (Successor to "It Takes Some Time" which I would recommend reading if you feel like it.)
1. From Ends to Beginnings

**Welcome everyone! If you're new to my writing then I'll point out some quick things. I usually only use bold letters for author's notes and as such, are not part of the story itself. I'll rarely actually put them in the story itself unless I decide it absolutely needs them. This is kind of a successor to "It Takes Some Time," that I began writing last month. I recommend reading it to see why things are like they are in this story. It's not required to read but some people like a little back-story. Enjoy! **

* * *

Orange and brown trees covered the distant backyard of a modest yet well established house. It was well maintained and the yard was devoid of the pesky leaves that threatened to constantly fall on the otherwise green grass. Even though it seemed like a quiet place to live, there were always the sounds of the four women who spent their lives there, away from the city of Vale. A city that they loved, but only one of them had an untarnished memory of the bright sounds and sights that it had to offer. The other three held onto bitter-sweet memories that always reminded them of a true huntress who lived a short life that changed them for the better. These four people were outside, preparing for a big day that all potential hunters and huntresses had to experience at some point in their lives. The chance to gain acceptance to their chosen school of choice to further their skills and knowledge to become a full fledged hunter. In this case, it was the chance to enter the highly acclaimed, Beacon Academy. Specifically, a girl named, Cadenza Rose Belladonna, whose dark amber eyes burn with anticipation at what may lay before her.

* * *

**Caden**

"You aren't striking fast enough! Your swings are leaving you exposed!"

I rolled my eyes at the statements. I knew I wasn't as fast as I could be without my weapon, but I couldn't just throw it away and leave myself defenseless. I didn't have much training in hand-to-hand combat and even then, I wasn't strong enough to keep that kind of style without breaking something early on. My scythe could take out the training dummies that were set up for me in one swing but according to Aunt Weiss, that alone wasn't going to cut it. I kept swinging Thorn with more and more of my dwindling strength in hopes of getting a faster arc, but it was to no avail.

Aunt Weiss wasn't impressed at my futile attempts. "Still too slow!"  
I sighed and turned toward her. "Well what do you expect me to do? Gain ten pounds of muscle in a few minutes?"  
"Well maybe if you stuck closer to Crescent Rose's design when making your scythe you could have used the recoil for some extra force." Weiss was still arguing about that, it seemed.  
"I don't need that to use Thorn though!" I argued right back.  
She crossed her arms. "Then prove it!"

I huffed at her stubbornness. I failed to see how she could have gotten into any kind of relationship, let alone with a hyperactive girl that Aunt Ruby supposedly was. A laugh came from the house's porch that I easily picked up thanks to my heritage. Mum was laughing at me and Weiss arguing. Her bright, golden hair nearly blinding me in the afternoon sun's light. I always wondered how she never got her hands stuck in that mess.

"Yang, it isn't that funny." Mother had tried, in vain, to quiet her.  
"Sure it is, Blake. It's like watching you and Weiss arguing all over again." She proceeded to keep laughing.  
Weiss couldn't help but interject. "I'm trying to train your daughter over here. Can you keep it down?"  
Mum waved at Aunt Weiss. "Sure, okay. I'm done."  
Aunt Weiss turned back to me. "Now then, Caden, move faster!" **(A/N: If you haven't picked it up by now. Mother=Blake. Mum=Yang)**

Aunt Weiss was never one to let things go off course, as evidenced by her constant training schedules the day I made and brought home my sweet, sweet, Midnight Thorn. At first, Mother wasn't too keen on letting me use such an apparently dangerous weapon, especially after they saw some of the features I added to it. Mum eventually convinced her it was fine, but I had to take extra lessons from Aunt Weiss so I could learn to control it without hurting myself. But now all the training was to make sure my chance of living my dream was as high as possible.

I readied Thorn and tried to think of a way to decrease the time of my arc. It wasn't exactly a heavy weapon but it did have its troubles. The head added some extra weight and just going through the swinging motion took a little more strength than originally thought. It didn't take me long to realize that it was simply not possible at this moment to fix that, and instead, I thought of the problem differently. Instead of attacking one enemy at a time, leaving myself open to others, I should try to take out as many of the dummies as possible in the least amount of strikes possible. With this new line of thinking, a plan quickly popped into my head.

"I'm waiting!" A hand was impatiently placed on Weiss's hip.  
"You've got this, Caden!" Mum cheered, trying to offset Weiss.

I smiled at them and rushed at my first target and yelled out. "Watch this, Aunt Weiss!" The first dummy to face my wrath was directly in my sights. I swung Thorn at it and chopped it cleanly in half without second thought. Thankfully, my plan didn't end there. The moment I knew the target was done, I clicked a button on Thorn's handle and its head shot out off and away from the handle with a chain as the only thing attaching them together. A single spike was at the top of the scythe, which helped lend it the name. The head slammed into another dummy and impaled it with its spike to keep it in place. With Thorn ready and waiting, I began concentrating on my aura, willing it to my favor. I sometimes had trouble getting it to work for me but thankfully, it was generous with me and let me shadow-step past and around three more dummies. The chain began pushing against each dummy, cutting them clean in half without trouble. The thing that made Mother cautious of Thorn was actually the pivotal point of my plan, which was the fact that every chain link had its own razor-sharp blade. It was hard to make but worth the time as it payed off in the end.

My momentum was still high at this point and I didn't want to slow down. I decided to end on a flashy note and clicked the button again forcing the scythe head to retreat back to its master. An audible crack was heard as the spike pulled and ripped the impaled dummy into a mess. The head flew back at me, ready to be whole once again. When it reached me, the head slammed back into place, the force pushing me towards the last dummy. One last crunch and the deed was done. Six dummies utterly destroyed in less than ten seconds.

I stood and began breathing hard, all of the training finally taking its toll on me. A glance at Mother showed a look of surprise at what I had accomplished.

Mum ran over and gave me a bear hug out of excitement. "That was awesome, Caden! It's hard to believe you've gotten so good with that thing. Even Ruby had trouble getting her techniques down."  
I quickly backed out of the hug because I was sweaty from the action and looked at Aunt Weiss. "Well?" I asked.  
She looked at me and the destroyed dummies. She put on a small smile. "That was very acceptable if I say so myself. You're free to go and do what you need before seeing Professor Ozpin.  
Mother added in her own snippet. "I'm surprised he's still even running the school at this point."

The trio kept talking as I went inside to to clean up. A short shower later and I was pretty much ready. I looked at myself in the mirror, making sure I looked acceptable for meeting a headmaster. As usual, I kept things simple with some form-fitting jeans and a t-shirt. Hopefully he doesn't have a thing against the purple highlights I put in my hair. They matched my ears pretty well and I might as well show them off since Mother absolutely refuses to let me hide them. Something about being proud of what I am but I never had a problem with them in the first place. Although I sometimes wished it was possible to inherit Mum's bust, because even with Mother's genes, I was still a little disappointed with how I developed.

Before I could make any adjustments to my attire, Mum's voice rang out through the house. "Caden! It's time to go!" I grabbed Thorn and ran out the room, ready to get this stress over with. Apparently, Ozpin had taken an interest in me because of my parents and decided to personally see if I should be in Beacon. I don't know what his plan is but hopefully whatever it is won't be too bad.

* * *

"Go on. Hurry up and get it over with." Mother reassured. It was hard to take the advice though. We had arrived at some unmarked building and waited in a hallway. The only door at the other end took awhile to open and when it did, all there was on the other side was a dark room with a table and two chairs. I was hesitant to go in but my parents didn't want me to waste anytime. When I walked in, the door closed and I sat at the chair closest to me. A man, who I instantly recognized to be Professor Ozpin, walked in with a cane. Behind him was a woman with blond hair that seemed to start graying out in her age. Ozpin silently sat down and looked at me. It was definitely uncomfortable for me, having never met the man before today. My ear twitched at the sound of his companion tapping on her scroll.

"So this is the daughter of Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna. It's obvious who you take after it seems." Ozpin finally spoke.  
I still felt uncomfortable but I knew I needed to say something. "Uh, yea. Mother was always making sure that I didn't feel bad about who I am."  
"A good trait to have. But right now I need to see if your Beacon material." He stated.  
I wasn't sure what that meant. "Did you want to see me fight or something?"  
He smiled. "No, that's alright. I've already seen you from the videos of your training sent to me by your aunt. You have an interesting weapon, a very dangerous one to be exact."  
I pulled Thorn off my hip and unfolded it. "You mean this? I wouldn't call it _very_ dangerous.." A click was heard as I accidentally hit Thorn's switch and its head flew into the ceiling.  
Ozpin seemed less phased than his partner at this mistake. "And it seems you've made it even more dangerous than before. This should be interesting."  
I nervously laughed at my mistake. "Soo, what do I need to do to get into Beacon?"  
Ozpin stood. "Oh, right. You're already in. I just wanted to meet you for myself." He turned and began walking out. "Lets go, Glynda."  
She began following him and talking. "I wish you would run things by me before enrolling random teenagers."  
Ozpin chuckled. "She's not random. She's a bit of a special case."

And with that, they were gone from the room and the door behind me opened to my waiting parents. I walked out and they immediately began asking questions about how well my meeting went with Ozpin.

Mother looked worried. "I heard a crash in there. Did something happen?"  
"Thorn accidentally launched into the ceiling. It went fine though." I calmly explained.  
Mum tapped her foot at the explanation. "What do you mean, 'It went fine?' That didn't sound fine to me. And what about Beacon? Did you get in?"  
I told them what I knew. "He said I was already accepted in. He just wanted to meet me in person for some reason."  
Mother sighed. "He could have met us at our house then if you were already accepted. I never understood that man."  
Mum pushed us along. "Well let's go get Caden ready then, Hun. No doubt she's excited to finally become a true huntress in training."

And with that, we proceeded to get everything ready for my eventual change of home to Beacon. I was excited for it because it meant my dream was coming true but now I had to deal with being separated from my long time family, even if it was only for certain lengths of the years to come. Aunt Weiss was so happy to learn about my acceptance that she nearly shed a tear it looked like. I probably would have to if it wasn't for the fact that I was so busy getting things ready. We even had a mini party to celebrate, mostly with some cookies and music since we didn't have much else on hand.

That night I sat silently in my bed thinking of all the things that I was going to potentially learn at Beacon. The excitement nearly made me giddy and almost kept me from falling asleep. Thankfully, I had the control to force my eyes closed and rest my body for the next day of preparations. Although I still wondered why Ozpin considered me a "special case."

* * *

**And that is that. I'm putting this out there mostly to see how people react to Caden who was introduced in the last chapter of my first story. If the reactions are negative then I'll probably scrap this and go back to the drawing board. If it's a positive reaction then I guess I'll keep at it. And per my new policy, reviews are always welcome. Have fun and see you next time!**


	2. Expanded Horizons

**Well, the first chapter seemed well liked so I went ahead and made another chapter since I had nothing to do today. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Caden**

The special airship for transporting the students to Beacon was amazing. Not a single bump of turbulence and it was such a smooth ride that no one was forced to sit and wait. Instead, students were walking around and talking among themselves, trying to make new friends so they wouldn't be alone at the new school. I was still hanging back and thinking about my parents and how the sent me off. Mother had nearly cried but I guess it's hard to when you have someone like Mum cracking jokes. Mum kept on joking about how it's going to be fun to not have children in the house and such. Aunt Weiss wasn't laughing at that though since she still had to deal with her, Mother, and whatever they did that I didn't want to think about. When it had came time for me to board the airship, my parents gave me a hug and Aunt Weiss told me to watch the other students and see who was possibly the strongest.

Now I'm stuck here trying to figure out what to do with my time till we arrive. I stood and began walking about the crowd and tried to find someone to talk with.

* * *

**Weiss**

It was a tense yet fun ride back to our house. We were all proud of Caden getting into Beacon but sometimes you're never ready for things to change. She wasn't far away but the house felt slightly emptier without Caden running around trying to keep herself entertained unlike most teenagers who stayed in their rooms all day. Yang and Blake were chattering away and flirting like they just met, clearly enjoying the lack of younger eyes watching them. Yang would take every opportunity to wrap herself around Blake without second thought even if my presence was obvious.

I was just sitting on the couch watching television, which was rare for me, when I heard yelp in the kitchen.

"That's it! You win! Come here you little.." I could hear Blake yell out. A door closed and an audible click rang through to the living room. I sighed and turned off the TV, instead opting to walk into the kitchen. Cooking supplies were half ready and an apron was on the ground. A giggle came from the closest bedroom. I tried to ignore it and opened a cabinet next to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of vodka. With Caden in the house I had nearly forgotten it had even existed. I walked through the living-room towards my room where Ruby's picture looked down on me. _"__Sorry, Ruby. I really need this right now. Hopefully you can understand."_

* * *

**Caden**

My hunt to find someone wasn't working very well. I don't know why but no one clicked with me it seemed. After five failed conversations I decided to just head back to my previous corner to just watch the others.

"Hey wait up!" A voice called out towards me. My ears turned before I did. A girl jogged up to me and smiled. "I knew I saw those ears!"  
I felt like I should have been offended. "Uh, that's a little rude don't you think?" My ears flattened sub-consciously.  
Her eyes went wide. "Oh, sorry! That's not what I meant. I just haven't met any faunas until now on this ship."  
She still wasn't making sense. "What is that supposed to mean?" I asked.  
"Sorry again. It's always been easier for me to make friends with faunas people. My dad is one and he always had me hanging out with other faunas kids." Her smile showing her sincerity.  
I was confused at this. "Your dad is a faunas? Then how come you don't have any traits of one?"  
She laughed a little. "My mom isn't one and I just so happened to get most of her genes rather than my dad's."  
It seemed simple now that she explained. "Ah, okay. It's the same for mine. My mother is a faunas and my other mother is a human."  
She looked surprised. "Wow, and I thought my family was odd. One parent a faunas, the other human, and a lesbian couple to boot. You're giving me a run for my money."  
I couldn't help but laugh at the statement. My family was definitely weird at times. "It seems so. My name is Cadenza Belladonna by the way. Caden for short if you want." I offered a hand.  
She took it and shook it with a hard grip. "Mine is Natalia Palestone. It's great to meet you." She smiled and ran her hand through her brown, frizzy looking hair.

Natalia and I talked about our families and our faunas heritage, which I guess she had since her father had apparently made sure she fit in with his family and friends. She came from a family that barely stayed above being in poverty but she had managed a spot in Beacon from her combat skills alone. Her weapon being two gauntlets that covered her hands and fingers, ending with razor sharp claws tipped with red on each fingertip. They seemed very bestial which complimented Natalia and her slight rugged look, with her simple brown boot and loose blouse. I showed her Midnight Thorn and she nearly jumped when it unfolded into my hands.

"And you made that yourself?" She didn't believe my nods.  
"I had a previous weapon to base it off but it works differently from the first one." I was proud that Thorn was getting some appreciation from others.

When we finally got comfortable talking, a voice interrupted everyone's conversation. Glynda Goodwitch popped into existence through a hologram.

"You students will arrive at Beacon shortly. Make sure you have everything with you as this airship wont be making return trips until later in the month. There will be a short orientation today and tomorrow will begin your education at Beacon."

And then Glynda was gone. A shutter lowered on the front of the ship and a clear view of Beacon was seen through the newly uncovered window. All the students began crowding around, trying to get a look while I got my things ready and Natalia went to get her stuff.

Before she got consumed by the crowd she turned and called out. "I'll meet you outside when we land. Don't forget anything!"

* * *

People rushed off the airship as soon as we landed, heading straight for the slightly intimidating structure in front of us. I simply walked off with my two suitcases and took my time. Natalia was ahead of me but I think she decided to turn around when she noticed the lack of cat ears in the initial group of students. She saw me and jogged back to meet me.

"Phew, I thought you had left me behind. Ready for the first day?" She seemed excited to get there as her steps made me speed up.  
I thought for a second. "Does this count as the first day though? We haven't done much past walking inside."  
"Well we're here aren't we? I would count that as a successful first day." Her optimism shining bright.  
I couldn't argue her logic. "I guess so. Well lets go see what they have to say to us."  
She frowned a little. "I wonder what they have to say that isn't what we pretty much know already about this place."  
I was ready with an answer since Aunt Weiss had gone over what they usually did. "It's probably a really short speech from Ozpin."  
"I hope so. It can be hard for me to sit still sometimes." She seemed a little relieved at my words.

We walked through the giant entrance and went into a huge room filled with all of the new students. There weren't that many on the airship so I can only guess that they took another means of travel to get here. I didn't really recognize anyone besides Natalia, but I didn't really expect to see any old friends here since it was a hard school to get into. In the center of the far back wall was a simple platform where Ozpin walked up to towards a microphone.

Natalia looked confused. "He seems a little old to be a headmaster for a school like this, doesn't he?"  
"I don't know. I haven't heard much about him." It was true, I didn't know anything about him past his status.

He didn't seem very into it today it seemed. He probably was tired of giving these speeches every year, I guess. He took a quick sip from his coffee mug and began talking. "Good morning, everyone. Today you begin your education at Beacon in which you will learn what you need to be a Hunter or Huntress so you can go into the world and help those who can't help or defend themselves. This year, instead of waiting to tell you what will happen, I'm going to go ahead and get it out of the way. Tomorrow, you will be part of a test that will decide what team you will be a part of for the rest of your stay at Beacon. You will be matched up initially with a partner for this test. We've been watching all of you closely. Because of this, the person you spent the most time talking to on the way here and when you arrived will be the one to take this test with you. I'll explain the rest tomorrow, take this time to get to know each other better and train. You will most likely need it." Ozpin took another sip and left the stage.

I was surprised at this turn of events. Usually they didn't pair anyone until the actual test but it could have been worse. Natalia and I looked at each other and nodded. We went and found our own secluded spot to talk it out.

Natalia didn't wait. "So now we just wait then. Why do they partner us up before the test? I thought the point of it was to create teams."  
I nodded. "It is but teams of two are made early and then the test itself is made to create a four person team, which will be the final team."  
"Oh, okay. What do we do now then?" She asked.  
I simply shrugged. "I guess we wait until tomorrow. We already know each other pretty well so I guess we just relax and see the sights."

Natalia agreed and we walked through some of the school. We found a lounge like area where students were already flocking to, socializing like they've been there before. I saw one guy walk by us with what looked like a white battle-axe on his back, but on closer inspection, was actually part crossbow it seemed. I wasn't sure how that combo came to be but whatever works I guess. We grabbed something to eat and went back to our things and created a place to sleep since they didn't give us rooms yet.

The area became pretty much a giant coed room. People were walking around in sleep-wear and pulling blankets around. Some even had candles set up against their better judgments since there were so many things to catch on fire in here now. Can't blame them though, the candles made everything look nice in the dark. Even the guys walking around looked better, some purposely trying to look good to others. I guess I could say the girls looked nice also but even with two moms, I still really haven't figured where I stood on that. I had more things to worry about past who I was going to drag into my bed.

Natalia finished her bedding. "Well goodnight, Caden. I'd rather be well rested for tomorrow."  
"Same here." I agreed. I pulled some blankets over me and tried to drift off to sleep.  
"That's odd." Natalia said next to me.  
I was confused. "What?"  
"I figured that you would have been a bit more curled up like other felines."  
"What is that supposed to mean?" I turned and looked at her.  
"I didn't mean to offend you again but my dad has canine traits, specifically wolf, and some of those traits would show up with things like sleeping and such. I guess you just don't have those kinds of impulses."  
"Huh, I guess not." I wasn't trying to be mean but I was tired and wanted to sleep some. "I'll ask Mother about it sometime. Well goodnight, Natalia."

Thankfully, I wasn't interrupted this time and successfully made it into deep sleep. I was surprisingly not worried about tomorrow. I haven't seen Natalia fight but I was confident that she made it into Beacon for a reason, plus, she was nice, which always helped.

* * *

**Another done and now for the next! As always, reviews are welcome and I hope you guys are enjoying this as it goes. Goodnight and have fun!**


	3. The Knights of the Castle

**Another chapter for today! Yes, I do have a lot of free time on the weekends. Yay for me I guess. Although don't expect a chapter everyday, as this story is a little bit tougher to write for.**

* * *

**Caden**

Natalia and I walked into our starting area that we were told to go to. Before us was a large room with a two large walls heading toward the center of the room with a sharp turn at the end of them. We could see the other pairs of students either going around the far corners or standing at the start of another pathway.

Natalia wasn't afraid to question it. "What is the point of this? Seems like an odd setup."

I merely nodded and bounced on my feet a little, anticipation getting to me finally. Other students were making sure they had what they needed and closely watched the others. Several screens lit up around the room, which I guess is necessary due to the size of the room itself. Ozpin's face was at the center of each screen. He looked a little less out of it today but little interest registered on his face.

"I hope you all found your assigned places easily this morning because we're about to begin the first order of business. Before you all is a simple path lined with walls. What you can't see though, is the large maze beyond those walls. Each pair selected for today will go into said maze and try to reach the center of the room and collect a relic. It won't be simple and easy for you though. We've spread a couple of surprises through the maze to test your combat and response skills. And it's entirely possible to meet other teams along the way. Once you get your relic, you will need to leave the maze and await for the results."

I looked over at the other groups. They looked a little uneasy at the potential to fight others. I didn't mind much, I just had to avoid severely maiming them and I was good.

Ozpin continued. "Now that you've had time to let that sink in, it's time to begin." He clapped and a pistol sound went off. I hesitated but Natalia burst into the pathway without stopping for a second. I heard her yell back at me. "Hurry up, Caden! Let's go!" I laughed and chased after her, into the maze without a single way to know where we're going. We took many turns and many different paths but many dead-ends decided to greet us in return. It took a long time before we even felt like we were half-way through the maze.

After another dead end, I kicked the wall out of frustration. "I hate mazes so much. I was never good at them before and I'm definitely not good at them now."  
Natalia leaned against the wall to rest a bit. "Well at least we still haven't got any of those 'surprises' yet. I keep hearing loud noises everywhere around us."  
Another sound met my ears. "You're right. Let's keep moving then, before something finds us."

Natalia got up and we started going through more turns. Every dead-end we met, I would give the wall a good kick and we would be on our way again. Every now and then we would come across a wall that had some pretty bad gouges in it. Other teams must have been by here and we just missed them and whatever they were fighting. A scream rang out and I became a little uncomfortable being there. I wanted to leave that place quick and started jogging to get around the corner.

"Caden, wait!" Natalia warned but I didn't listen and tried to take the corner. And to reward my idiocy, a boarbatusk greeted me with a snort. I wasn't able to react due to surprise alone. I saw it begin to attack and impale me but a loud bang rang right next to me and Natalia's claws rocketed past me and struck the beast without me even able to see most of it. The grimm got knocked against the wall and on its back. I finally snapped out of it and unfolded Thorn to attack. I remembered Aunt Weiss's stories and took the opportunity to run and impale the beasts exposed stomach. It thrashed violently but it stopped eventually and went limp with one final breath.

I turned and smiled at Natalia. "Well, that was a thing, wasn't it?"  
She didn't seem very amused, somehow managing to cross her arms without cutting herself with her gauntlets. "You need to be more careful. That thing nearly killed you and you're not even a full week into Beacon!"  
I frowned, not expecting her frustration. "Sorry, that scream just kind of unnerved me. I'm usually more careful than that, or else my aunt would kill me herself."  
Shook her head a little and smirked. "As long as it doesn't happen again then we'll be fine. Lets just leave before more show up."  
"That I can agree with."

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. We found more and more as we made it deeper into the maze. We took our turns killing the grimm as fast as possible. Natalia would lash out and fire what looked like a reversed gun on her right gauntlet that gave her the extra power and speed to knock over the boarbatusks and I would impale them with Thorn's spike to finish them. After maybe the tenth one, we finally reached the middle of the maze where pedestals lined the walls.

We ran up to a pedestal and I nearly started laughing. "He's reusing the chess pieces it seems. My Aunt told me about these. The pieces that have a pair will determine our other teammates."  
Natalia inspected the piece we found. "Well this is a black rook." She looked around. "And the other one is gone. Want to get this one?"  
I glanced around nervously. "Yea, now we just need to get out of here."  
The frizzy haired girl hung her head. "I forgot that we also needed to leave back through the maze again. That's going to take forever!"  
I agreed. "And I don't know the way back out." I growled a little and kicked a loose rock. It went flying over the wall. An idea popped in my head. "How about we just go over the walls?"  
Natalia gave me a weird look. "Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of the maze?"  
A devious smile from me. "I didn't hear Ozpin say anything against it."  
She smiled back. "Neither did I. So what's this plan of yours?"

Instead of talking, I jumped up on top of a pedestal and looked over the walls to find the exit. I quickly spotted it and jumped back down. Thorn unfolded and I launched its head over the wall and hooked the blade near the top. Confident that it was secure, I backed up as far as I can.

I waved Natalia over. "Okay, grab onto the handle tight and whatever you do, don't let go. It would be bad for you to fall and get stuck in a random section of the maze. Do you have the relic?"  
Natalia tossed it around a little and secured it on her belt. "Yep. I hope whatever your doing works. I want this to be done with."

She grabbed onto Thorn and got ready. I counted down to get mentally prepared and clicked the button to retract Thorn's blade. Instead of pulling it in though, I used the force to send us flying over the walls of the maze. I have to admit that it was a great plan. Until I suddenly realized that we needed to land. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to figure it out and we crashed into a wall in path that lead outside.

We ended up tumbling over each other. Natalia was the first to get her mind straight. "Good job, Caden. You managed to give us concussions on the second day."  
I was a little dizzy. "Yep... I'm awesome." I couldn't sit up. "Could you get off me now? You're sitting on my chest."  
She looked down and immediately got up helped me. "Sorry, you okay? Didn't mean to crush you with my behind."  
I stood and patted myself down. "No biggie. It wasn't big enough to do much anyway."  
Natalia pouted a little. "Ouch, you know how kick 'em while they're down, don't you?"  
"Only when it keeps an ego in check." Laughs fell out of my mouth. "At least we made to the exit."

I spoke a little too soon though. Just as we began heading toward the exit, a pair of students ran in front of us towards the exit. One was the tan skinned boy who had the crossbow that I saw in the lounge the other day. His friend turned to look behind him and saw us instead. He said something and they both stopped to turn and look at us.

The dark skinned one spoke first. "You girls aren't going to attack us at the exit are you?" He asked.  
I looked at Natalia and then replied back. "Well we've came this far haven't we? Why would we risk it now?"  
He smiled and eased up. "Makes sense. I like it when people make sense." His face scrunched up a little. "Wait, where did your partner go?"

Now that he mentioned it, I didn't see her anywhere. But then, almost like she was a shadow herself, she leaped out from the side and put the guy in a headlock. He panicked a little but he stopped suddenly.

His taller friend got ready to attack but the boy waved him down. "Calm down. Look at her belt. She has the matching relic that we took."  
Natalia realized what this meant and let him go. "I guess we'll end up teammates then. What's your name?"  
He was happy to respond. "Damien Wolke at your service. This guy is Lauro Molten." He pointed at the taller fellow with cropped blond hair  
I walked up and greeted them. "Sorry about that. Never can be too careful." I looked at Natalia. "How did you disappear like that?"  
She smiled sheepishly. "I didn't. My semblance kind of shrouds me and lets me blend in with most shadows."  
"Well that was pretty cool if I say so myself." Damien shot out of his mouth.  
Lauro finally spoke out during this whole conversation. "How about we leave and finish the mission before we greet each other."  
I didn't like his brashness. "A little pushy are we?"  
Damien spoke for him. "He just really gets into the whole mission thing. Serious business and stuff, but he's right. We can get to know each other later. Come on."

Him and Lauro immediately started running to the exit. They trusted us faster than I expected. Natalia and I soon followed their lead and left, not wanting to meet any other teams.

The huge room still had its stage with Ozpin waiting on it. Once the last pair showed up he immediately stood and started announcing teams. A lot of the groups were interesting but there seemed to be a couple that didn't really mix well with some of them already looking ready to fight. "And finally, Natalia Palestone, Damien Wolke, Lauro Molten, and the leader, Cadenza Belladonna. You four will be under the name, 'Team CNDL.' Now that the initial mission is done, take this time to familiarize yourself with your new members and find your dorms. Good day, and welcome to Beacon."

* * *

We found our room and began unpacking our things, while also talking to get to know each other better.

Damien wasn't afraid of asking questions. "So what's your semblance, Caden?"  
I responded by shadow-stepping around the room to put things on a shelf. "I inherited it from my mother. What about you Damien?"  
He looked nervous. "Mines not as useful as yours. I can make my aura a physical object for a time, which can be a platform or something. I'm still trying to find uses for it."  
I looked at Lauro. "And you?"  
He picked up his sword. "I can increase the effects of dust. Because of that, I've made my sword imbued with dust inside so I can bring out its power in battle."

Things were looking good for us it seemed. No bickering and things were settled easily. I went into the bathroom to call up my parents on my scroll that Beacon had issued to us. It barely rang when Mother's face popped up on the screen.

"Caden! How is Beacon? Any new friends? How did the first mission go?" She wouldn't let up.  
I held up my hand. "It went well. I'm already in a team and guess what! I'm the leader of it!"  
Mother looked ready to jump for joy. "That's great." She looked off to the side. "YANG! CADEN IS THE LEADER!"  
I heard a cheer somewhere off screen. "I guess Mum is happy. Where's Aunt Weiss? I want to tell her something cool that happened that she would love to hear."  
Mother frowned a bit. "She's feeling a little under the weather right now."  
Mum yelled off screen. "YEA, IF YOU CALL A WHOLE VODKA BOTTLE 'SICK!'"  
"Yang shut up! I'm still talking to Caden." Mother looked back at the screen. "I'll make sure to get her to call you later. In the mean time, congratulations and make sure to lead your team well. Bye, Caden!"  
"Bye, Mother. And thanks." I closed the scroll and left the bathroom.

I spent the rest of the day checking schedules and preparing for whatever Beacon is going to throw at me. Hopefully it's mostly physical stuff, or else I'm probably going to struggle at first.

* * *

**Time to welcome Team CNDL everyone. Hopefully I won't fudge this up. As always, reviews are welcome and remember, have fun!**


	4. Spinning a Tale

**Told you guys that it would take more than a day. Since this story is rated T, it went down the list faster than I thought so I decided to jump on the work. Hope you enjoy reading it.**

* * *

**Caden**

I was not ready in any sense of the word to wake up the next morning. Waking up so early was not a strong suit of mine. Thankfully, Lauro was ready and was making sure no one slept in. I don't know if he just wanted to make a good first impression or if this was just his normal thing but it was helpful. I tried sitting up and was just in time to see Lauro bang his sword and shield together. The clang was pretty loud in this relatively small room.

Natalia shot up. "OW, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" She looked at me with her hands over her ears.  
I simply pointed at Lauro who just shrugged. "We've got classes in an hour and I figured this was the best time to wake everyone."  
Natalia looked at him in shock. "We still have an hour? I could have been sleeping for an hour more? Ugh, I was so not prepared for that."

Natalia was too awake by now though and was first to take a shower since Lauro seemed to have already finished up that business. He was even already dressed with some simple leather shoulder-pads and shin guards. Damien was still somehow asleep after that rudimentary alarm so Lauro opted to gently use his shield to smack him awake.

Damien jumped and grabbed his crossbow. "Where are they attacking from? The window?" His head flew left and right trying to find the intruders.  
I laughed and went with it. "No, they're attacking from the bathroom!" Damien, still in his haze, charged the bathroom.  
Natalia screamed and Damien flew out the bathroom's door. I quickly apologized to the girl. "Sorry, Natalia! I told him there were intruders in the bathroom!" The door simply just slammed.  
Lauro helped Damien up who shot an evil glare at me. "Great way to start the day, leader. What's next? A cage of lions?"  
I giggled. "Nah, just having some fun to make the start of the day interesting."

Lauro didn't look like he wanted to approve but his mouth was twitching into a smile at Damien's misfortune. While he had a mental fight with himself, Natalia walked out of the bathroom with her hair still damp, leaving me a chance to take a shower and leave them to work out their differences. Hopefully Natalia doesn't try smacking Damien again before I get out to stop her. Maybe I shouldn't have egged him on, I can't have these people being mad at each other already.

* * *

The classes weren't as bad as I thought. It was mostly about just paying attention to the information being told. Aunt Weiss was always talking during my lessons so it was almost like I was back at home. I couldn't say the same for Natalia though, she was always trying to fidget with something around her or her leg was bouncing like crazy next to me.

I leaned over a little and whispered to her. "Are you okay? Too much coffee this morning or what?"  
She forcibly stopped all movement. "It's all this sitting around. I expected to be moving a lot more than this when I decided to come here."  
"Oh. Well you better get used to it. We have more than just this class to be in." I watched her head fall a little.  
Her fingers began tapping her book. "Please don't remind me. I already had gotten enough adrenaline from this morning when Damien decided to stop the 'invaders.'"  
I tried to hold in my laugh. "Sorry about that again. I didn't expect him to actually go in there."  
"You're lucky the curtain wasn't see through or else I would have done more than just kicking him out." _Tap tap tap.  
_"I'm glad. I don't want my team to break down so fast. So thank you for restraining yourself. Just please stop the tapping." And to show my point, I put a book on her hand.

I went back to watching the professor talk and ramble on. Lauro was taking notes, not even looking up to watch the professor. I should get some pointers from him. Being a leader is going to be tough and I'm going to need all the help I can get. He seemed like a kind guy but he seems to get serious about everything he does. I wonder how he ended up being Damien's partner, since he seemed way more carefree than what I expect Lauro could deal with. Speaking of the smart-mouth, he seemed very relaxed today which was good, but I just wish it didn't include his head face-down on his desk. I caught Lauro's attention and mimed an elbow while pointing at Damien. He nodded and nudged him awake. He didn't look happy but he's going to have to deal with it.

* * *

"You couldn't have just let me sleep?" Damien asked while sitting against a tree.  
"You needed to pay attention in class. I don't like sitting and listening to some lecture either but it helps keep my grade up and I learn some things." I replied while watching the surrounding area.  
Damien tore a fallen leaf. "I guess you're right on that, just let me sleep a little later tomorrow morning then."  
"Tell that to Lauro then. He was the one who woke you up." I jerked a thumb at the tall man who was kicking leaves, looking for some kind of trap.

After our initial class, Professor Goodwitch had taken us to the Grimm forest for a field test. She wanted to see how our teams could work together and to do that, she chose to make the test one team against the other. One team was inside a small building guarding a simple red flag while another team had to go in and get it. It sounded really simple but it was going to be tough if the other team was competent enough to actually work together.

We got chosen as a retrieval team, so we had to go find and find a way to take it and get passed whatever team was there. After Goodwitch gave us our assignment, she left and we were stuck alone in the forest trying to find the building where our rivals were waiting. We had walked a little but we stopped and tried to figure out a course of action. It was taking longer than expected which was a little disappointing to me.

Natalia was walking around a tree and pacing. "So what do we do, Caden? Isn't this your part?"  
Lauro nodded and looked at me. "It kind of is. We need a course of action."  
I nervously looked around. "I suppose you guys are right. Ummm, lets just keep walking and I'll see if I can pick up any sounds coming from the other team and go from there."  
Damien stood and got ready. "Works for me."

We started walking aimlessly. For something made by a powerful huntress, this seemed like a really unorganized test. Then again, Goodwitch had to also watch multiple teams. Maybe there are some secret cameras watching us. The way they paired us made it seem like so. ".._it's fine idiot! We just have to wait._" Well it seems like my plan was a success. At least my ears are useful past being an attraction for the weirdo boys in town.

I stopped and put up a hand. "Stop, I think I heard them over there." I pointed a finger towards my right.  
Lauro being the smart one. "Towards the east then. What's the next part of the plan?"  
I thought long and hard about it. I looked at Natalia. "How about you go ahead and use your semblance to scout the area and see what you can."  
She seemed a little frightened at the idea. "By myself? Seems dangerous."  
"That's why Damien is going with you. Since his weapon has range, he can stay farther back so he won't give you away while also being able to cover you if you need it." I looked at both of them.  
Natalia took a breath and nodded. "Fine. I'll try to get back as soon as possible then. Damien.." She turned. "Please don't mess this up." And Natalia went off, with her body visibly darkening as she reached different shadows.  
Damien waited a bit and then began heading out. "This plan better work."

Soon it was just me and Lauro waiting around for the others to get back with the information. I didn't want to sit around in awkward silence so I decided to learn a little about the guy.

"So, how did you get into Beacon?" Breaking the silence abruptly.  
His head jerked towards me like he was surprised. "Oh, I mostly just applied and worked hard toward it. Being a hunter is kind of a family thing."  
I wasn't surprised, it was a common thing in Vale and I was one those people. "Same for me. Although, I never applied for it really. Ozpin just kind of talked to me and then I was in. I still don't understand it but I'm glad I'm here."  
He gave me a look. "Did you at least work hard to get here?"  
"Of course! I've had things like lessons and constant training ever since I decided to be a huntress. My aunt wouldn't let me skip anything."  
He smiled at that. "Then that's all that matters. My father has always made sure to remind me that hard work is what counts. He also leaves some room for luck but not much."  
I laughed a little. "Sounds like a sound guy to me. I'm guessing that's why you're so headstrong at everything?"  
"I guess. I don't notice it all that much, but people have mentioned it. Dad was even surprised himself when I did so well at my academics." He shrugged at his statement.

Lauro wasn't a bad guy at all it seemed. And he seemed a little more loosened up with my presence which was a bonus. We were having a nice conversation about our families. Lauro would throw out a story about his dad being a bumbling wreck in school and then I would offer one about Mum acting like a fool in public. It was going pretty well until Damien ran up, breathing like he ran a marathon.

"We found... the building... Natalia... watching the... place..." He needed to get in shape a bit more it looks like.  
I made sure everything was set and waved Lauro towards where Damien came from. "Lead us there."  
Damien looked at me and turned back around. "Just...great."

He proceeded to lead us to where Natalia supposedly was waiting. I hoped that she hadn't been seen yet or else she wouldn't have back up. Maybe the other team was incompetent enough to not notice us loudly crashing through branches and leaves.

* * *

**Blake**

"You're kidding me right now. Right?" I put my hands on my hips and looked down at the pathetic looking creature on the couch.  
Yang flipped a page in a magazine, sitting a chair nearby. "She's been like this for an hour or so."

I had walked in from a walk in the forest to see Weiss lying face-down on the couch, an arm hanging off the edge. Said arm was trying to hold up a half finished vodka bottle but her coordination was nearly destroyed and all she managed to do was lift the bottle an inch off the ground before her strength gave out.

I looked at Yang. "And you didn't think to take it away from her? This isn't something she should be doing."  
Yang simply shrugged at me. "She wouldn't let me. Plus, it's kind of funny watching her."  
I sighed. "It's not funny Yang. This stuff is poison for the soul."

I reached down and took the bottle from Weiss. Her strength, almost like magic, immediately came back. She jumped up and tried to take it back. "No, no, please.." I put a hand on her chest and kept her at bay. She tried reaching for the bottle but I held it out behind me where her reach was outmatched. "Blake, please..." Her eyes looked glazed and they barely ever looked me in the eye.

"What's with you all of a sudden, Weiss? The second Caden is gone, you're a drunk." I tried looking at her.  
She refused to look me in the eye. "Don't.. please..."

I looked away and went into the kitchen. Weiss followed me the whole way, right on my tail. "What are you doing?" Her speech slow and heavy. I put the bottle over the sink and began pouring the foul stuff down the drain. Weiss's eyes went wide at my actions. "Blake, no! Stop it, please!" She yanked on my arm trying to pull me away from the sink.

Yang walked in and put her into a bear hug. "No you don't, Princess! Hands off my wife."  
I finished pouring the bottle and threw it into the trash. "Thanks for the help." I tried to look at Weiss's face. "Weiss, what's wrong? Are you happy with yourself right now? With how you're acting?"

Yang let her down and she stood there for a moment, looking at the ground. A slight sway in her body was her only movement. ".._sorry...__" _It was very small sound and then she ran off into her room. I tried to go in but it was locked and I could hear her sobs through the door. It broke my heart to see her act like this. _Was she like this before we came here?_ The question weighed heavily on my mind, even when I went back to the kitchen where Yang still stood. She didn't say a word, probably realizing that talking wasn't important right now. She simply wrapped her arms around me and let me rest against her. No doubt she was also feeling tense. Not even in the living-room could we escape the sounds of Weiss's crying.

* * *

**Honestly, I'm not sure I like going to Weiss's bits. I may try to wrap that up a.s.a.p. because it's a tough thing to write and it's gotten into a personal realm. Plus, I really want this story to be about Caden. But anyways. As always, reviews are welcome, and remember, have fun!**


	5. Spinning a Tale Pt 2

**Another day, another chapter for you good folks. I should try getting on top of my game if I don't want this to fall down a page or two. Anyway, I'm feeling a lot better with the team now. Still getting the hang of it, but I'm liking it. Enjoy.**

* * *

**Caden**

We saw the building standing out in the forest as Damien nearly collapsed against a tree, tired from his multiple treks across the leaves. Even I had to breathe a little harder than usual but Lauro didn't seem that phased by the run. I looked around for Natalia, which didn't do much as I couldn't see her anywhere.

I looked at Damien. "Where is Natalia?"  
He shrugged and started calming his breathing down. A hand tapped my shoulder. "I'm right here."  
I jumped and turned to find Natalia behind me. "Oh good lord! Could you warn a girl first?"  
She looked down a little. "Didn't mean to scare you. I was trying to stay quiet."  
I couldn't blame the girl. I pointed a finger at the building which, now that I'm seeing it, looked mostly like a simple shack. "So, are they in still in there?"  
She looked at it. "I saw one of them in the window. I haven't seen any others enter or leave so I think they are all in there."  
"Good, now we just need a course of action. Any ideas from you two?" I stared at Lauro and Damien.  
Lauro took the chance to speak. "We could always just charge in. If we take them by surprise we could have a chance to get the flag and get out."  
It was a sound idea, but I didn't like the odds. "Let's try that but instead of all of us going in, lets change a little something. Come here a second, Lauro."  
He walked over and I whispered something in his ear. He smiled. "I like that. Lets give it a shot." He left and began circling the shack.  
Damien raised a brow. "Uh, what's he up to?"  
I gave a simple smile. "You'll see. Just follow my lead."

I told them to follow me and we headed toward the front door of the shack. "_Crap, here they come. Get ready!" _Well they know we're here now. I could hear them shuffling around with their equipment. When we got up to the building, I told Damien to get ready with his crossbow. I kicked in the door and immediately saw a guy ready with a mace to swing. He didn't get a chance though because I immediately shot Thorn's head under him and used it to pull myself into a kick to his chest. I would have been proud of it but his friends were ready to retaliate. A sword came flying at me, ready to knock me out but Natalia's reflexes managed to knock it away with a claw. He started another swing and Natalia barely dodged a blow to her arm.

While she was busy with him, the last guy in the cabin was in front of a simple red flag. Obviously he was meant to be the last line of defense. He didn't have much in the way of special weaponry. With only two daggers, he looked under powered compared to his buddies. I ran at him intending to swat him away and take my prize. It didn't work and he jumped over my scythe and tried taking a couple swings at me. A cut showed up on my arm and he was back to guarding the flag. Now I understood why he was here, he was fast. Every swing I made would only lead to me getting a fresher line of blood. It was getting annoying to say the least. "Damien, a little help please?" I yelled over my shoulder. A bolt flew past me and hit the boy's foot. It didn't look like it did much but he fell to his knees in pain. Now that I had the advantage, I took a swipe and he tried blocking with a single dagger. It was hopeless though and he hit the wall harder than I intended.

I threw a thumbs up to Damien and grabbed the flag. I turned back to see Natalia's fight with her opponent who seemed to be having trouble keeping up with her claws. Her flurry of strikes were amazing to watch. They knocked away his sword and swatted him like fly. Unfortunately, this guy didn't want to stay down, taking any opening he could to swing or stab at her. She was about to deliver a knock out blow when he got lucky and his sword began to stab at her stomach. Her momentum wouldn't allow her to move out of the way and I wasn't close enough to do much about it. Damien's aura shined for a moment and the air in front of the student's sword started becoming a slight haze. His sword stopped when it met with the apparition and I took this as my chance. Thorn's head slammed into the wall and I cornered the enemy with my chain, making sure he saw the blades so he wouldn't try to escape.

I shook a finger at the guy. "Now don't move unless you want to be cut up like tissue paper."  
Natalia checked her stomach and let out her breath. "Wow that was close. Why did his sword stop like that?"  
Damien walked over, a tiny smile was barely visible on his face. "I used my semblance to block it. It was that or let you get skewered."  
I patted the dark skinned boy on the back. "Well good job with the quick thinking. Here, take the flag. You're the hero for the day."  
Natalia was off on the other side of the cabin. "Hey, Caden? There are only three people in here. Where's the fourth guy?"  
I shrugged. "Maybe they didn't get a fourth?"  
Just then the wall of the shack turned red and a red hot sword broke through with Lauro at its hilt. "I got him right here." Lauro tossed a kid off his shoulder. "I caught him hiding out back, probably for a sneak attack. I guess he didn't expect a shield to his head."  
I whistled. "I knew letting you scope things out was good idea. Well let's go claim our victory."

We left the shack and the other team behind as Damien held up the flag in triumph. We didn't get that far from the building before Goodwitch showed up to greet us.

She tapped a little on her scroll and looked up at us. "Congratulations on passing the test and completing the mission. Caden, your leadership skills are much better than I initially thought." Natalia smiled and patted my back. "Every one of you seemed to have gotten used to your new teammates rather quickly and it shows. You showed unbridled trust in each other and accomplished what was put before you." Goodwitch observed the shack, now with a new hole in the wall. "Although, with all of your different abilities, I expected a much quieter approach that didn't involve loudly kicking in the door. But it doesn't matter, full marks for all of you." Lauro and Damien clanged their weapons together and cheered. "Get ready for your next classes. And also, I'll have a talk with that student who nearly gutted you, Miss Palestone. That line of attack was uncalled for and he should have been using the flat of his blade. I hope you are okay and that you will be fine for the rest of the day."

Goodwitch walked of towards the shack and we headed back to the school to finish up our classes for the day. Our spirits were too high for class to bring us down, no matter how boring. Damien was absolutely beaming thanks to his moment of being the hero, and I didn't care to stop him since he really did save Natalia from some pretty bad injuries. I don't know what that student was thinking when he tried that. I know he had a sword and all but it was only a training mission, there wasn't any reason to justify nearly killing a student. I hope the Professor gave him a good piece of her mind.

* * *

Natalia and I walked into our room and fell onto our beds, tired from the hard work we put in today. Lauro still wanted to train even though classes were over for the day and Damien decided he needed to work a little more after having his confidence boosted. I was too tired to do much else besides flop down on my bed and stare at the ceiling.

Natalia's voice hit my ears. "God, my arms are so freaking tired. I think I may have overdid it today."  
I remembered her almost nonstop attacks. "Yea, I don't know how you managed that much movement."  
"It didn't help me much considering I nearly got killed by that guy's sword." I heard a pillow get punched.  
I turned my head and saw her sitting up. "Well at least Damien was there to help. That was some fast thinking on his part."  
"I guess, I just need to get used to needing some backup every now and then." She turned on her bed and looked me. "But now that the guys are gone, lets talk." She smiled.  
"What do you mean?" My blank stare made her laugh.  
She grabbed a pillow to mess with. "I mean tell me about yourself. Something interesting like past boyfriends or something."  
I couldn't think of anything. "I haven't had a boyfriend before. I don't think my Mum would have ever let me have one. She was always a little over-protective of me."  
Natalia seemed disappointed. "I figured you would have had plenty of them. Those ears are just too cute to not net you a guy."  
"I think that may have been the reason. I don't think she wanted the weirdos to get a hold of me." I looked down.  
"Have you even tried?" She asked.  
I thought about it. "I guess not. I never really thought much about it. What about you, Natalia?"  
Her face turned red a little. "It's the same for me actually. I've tried but I guess I'm just a little too much to handle."  
I laughed. "I could have told you that. I bet even Damien got that impression from this morning."  
She threw the pillow at me. "Good, I don't want him thinking of me like that anyway. He's nice but not my type."  
"Same for me. How about Lauro though?" I winked at her.  
She looked at me. "Nah, he's too serious about things. I want a laid back person."

We kept talking like this for maybe an hour before my scroll notified me that I had a call. It was Aunt Weiss which was surprising since she rarely every called out. Usually you had to call her before she would try talking to someone else. I picked it up and started for the bathroom. "Give me a second, Natalia. My aunt is calling me." I walked into the bathroom and closed the door. One tap and Aunt Weiss was on the screen.

I smiled at her. "This is out of place for you don't you think? You rarely ever call people."  
"Well, Blake said you had asked about me the other day and I wasn't able to see you." She had a strained smile on her face.  
A frown jumped onto my face. "I had forgotten that. She said you were feeling bad. Are you feeling better?"  
A nod shook the screen. "Yea, a bit. I guess something had gotten the better of me."  
I saw the bags under her eyes. "It looks like it. I just wanted to tell you how well everything was going. I was made leader of my team."  
Aunt Weiss smiled at that. "That's great to hear. Just be careful, being in charge of people can be stressful. I know Ruby had some problems with it once."  
I noticed a hitch in her speech when she mentioned Aunt Ruby. "I'm managing so far. I'm sure I can handle it well enough. My team is getting along well enough.  
"That's good then. It's important that everyone gets along." Aunt Weiss seemed tired.  
I decided to let her go. "I know. I'm going to let you rest some more. You look like you need it. Maybe this weekend I can come visit you guys."  
Aunt Weiss's eyes wavered a little. "Yea, that would be nice. I'll make sure to tell Blake and Yang. They'll be happy to see you."  
She had an odd way of saying things right now. "Okay. I hope you get better soon, Aunt Weiss. I love you."  
She smiled at me, her eyes looked a little glassy. "I love you to, Caden. Make sure to do well. Bye."

The scroll flicked to a black screen and I put it back into my pocket. Natalia was still on her bed, waiting for me to get back.

I thought for a second. "Hey Natalia. What are you doing this weekend?"  
She shrugged. "Nothing really. Why?"  
"Would you like to come with and see my family when I go visit them then? I bet they would like to meet my partner." I said optimistically.  
She thought it over and smiled. "Sure, why not? It might be fun."  
I laughed. "With my Mum, yea, it should be a hoot."

I thought about asking if Damien or Lauro wanted to go but they didn't seem like the type that would want to be dragged around. Besides, me and Natalia were friends longer than I was with them, even if it was only by a day. Hopefully Aunt Weiss is feeling better when we get there. She was always about making a good first impression.

* * *

**Yes, I copped out on a fight scene with Lauro, so sue me. Since I write everything on the spot, don't think I have some grand idea for Weiss, because I literally have no idea where I'll end up with it. When I get to it is when I'll get to it. As always, reviews are welcome and remember, have fun!**


	6. A Mossy Stone

**Before I let you read this chapter, I want to say that I had a hard time writing this. I started this chapter early in the morning and I nearly completely gave up halfway through. Ideas are tough apparently. But anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

**Caden**

"Are you sure walking through the forest was a good idea?" Natalia asked, not for the first time.  
I just kept walking. "Totally. My house isn't that far away."

I had decided to walk through the Forever Fall forest instead of taking an airship to surprise my family. They knew I was coming today but I figured it would be nice to surprise them by walking in the backdoor instead of ringing the doorbell. Natalia was weary about it since she didn't want to run into any grimm but I assured her that there wasn't any since my Aunt Weiss moved into this area. She had pushed most of the grimm away and then killed off the stragglers which kept everything by her house relatively peaceful, aside from the bickering between her and my parents.

We had been walking for maybe two hours and Natalia was becoming bored of seeing the same trees over and over again. Thankfully, I saw the first sign of my family as we spotted a beaten up dummy with some stuffing sticking out of it's stomach. No doubt Mum was using this guy recently and forgot to put him away. Natalia tried to stop and look at him but I pulled her along towards the trees that opened up to my back yard.

Natalia looked wow'ed by the sight. "Wow, this is your house? Pretty fancy for a forest."  
I didn't see the connection. "It could definitely be a lot less modest if that's what you mean. My Aunt doesn't like to over do things past what's necessary."  
"Well it's better than most houses I've seen." Natalia kept looking at it as we approached the back door.

The door was only just a sliding glass panel and because of this I could see the inside of the house. Mum was being lazy and sleeping in the chair and Mother was walking around busily walking around trying to get things nice and ready. I couldn't see Aunt Weiss so I guessed she was out doing something since she never really stayed in her room long. I quietly slid open the door and pulled Natalia in by her arm. Once I closed the door back, I walked up to Mum, who was still snoring away in her chair, and gave her a big hug around her neck.

Her arms immediately hugged me back. "Mmm, Blake is that you?"  
I laughed at her confusion. "Guess again, Mum!"

I immediately regretted waking her up like this. Without warning, Mum stood and picked me up in an enormous bear hug from which I couldn't escape. She twirled me and nearly made me knock a cup off the coffee table.

She carried me to the kitchen. "Hey, Blake! I caught a stray, can we keep her?"  
Mother turned and lit up. "Caden! I didn't expect you to be here so soon today! Yang, put her down before you break her."  
Mum dropped me and I caught my breath. "I figured I would surprise you guys. I should have known better than to surprise Mum first."  
Mum huffed. "I thought my little girl like my hugs. Beacon has changed you."  
I turned and hugged her normally. "No, I do like them but sometimes I'd rather be able to breathe."  
Mother kissed my forehead. "Good, because I doubt she is going to stop giving them."  
Right on cue, I was snatched up again. I saw that Natalia had followed us into the kitchen and was laughing. "Stop it, Mum. You're embarrassing in front of my friend."

Mum immediately dropped me and walked over to Natalia to inspect her. She looked her over and walked around her with steady eyes. Mother just sat and watched Mum treat Natalia like an intruder.

Natalia looked uncomfortable. "Did I do something wrong, Caden?"  
Mother giggled at that. "Don't worry, Yang is just a little protective of her family." But Mother did pull Yang away to make Natalia feel better.  
Mum shrugged. "She seems okay to me."  
I rolled my eyes. "Good to know she has your approval. She's part of my team, so it's not like it matters though."  
Mother got excited. "Oh, this is one of the girls on your team?"  
I turned to Mother. "Well she's the only girl on the team, besides me."  
Mum gave me a glare. "So there are two boys living with you in your dorm room?" It felt like she was about to go get her gauntlets and make a visit to the school.  
I shook my head violently. "Don't think like that, Mum. They're nice but I'm not really interested in them."  
"Really now? Is that why you brought her along with you?" Mum pointed at Natalia. "She seems good to me, maybe some better clothes and.."  
I immediately interrupted Mum with a red face. "NO, NO, nothing like that! She just wasn't busy today so she came along."  
Mother laughed at my embarrassment. "I think Yang was just messing round, Caden." She turned toward Natalia. "By the way, what's your name dear?"  
Natalia didn't want to be rude. "Natalia, M'am. It's nice to meet you." She extended a hand.  
Mother took it and shook it firmly. "So how did you two become friends so fast?"  
Natalia didn't seem to mind telling it. "I had begun talking to Caden because I saw that she was a faunus." Mother seemed to frown a little at that and Natalia noticed. "Not because I wanted to see her ears or anything like that. My father is a faunus and I just didn't happen to get his traits. I took more after my mother."  
Mother went back to smiling. "That's great to hear actually. Caden hasn't had much influence with other faunus besides myself and this could be a good thing for her. Actually, I would also like to hear about it to. Maybe come with us into the living-room and talk with us?"

We got pushed into the living-room and forced to sit around on the couch and chairs. Mother was looking expectantly at Natalia, like she would spill some kind of family secret or something but she didn't look all that comfortable with being put on the spot.

Natalia finally opened her mouth. "I don't know what you would be expecting but I haven't really learned much past just being with other faunus when I was younger. My dad was apparently disappointed that I wasn't born with his side of the genes but he made sure that I was accepted within the faunus community we lived in. Because of this, I didn't have many non-faunus friends and now I kind of get along better with them."

Mother was nodding along with her words while I sat back and listened. I had pretty much heard this already and was becoming disinterested in this conversation. I began wondering where Aunt Weiss was. It wasn't common for her to be out, especially since I had told her I would visit today. I looked around and saw that Mum and Mother were busy listening to what Natalia was saying and I took this chance to get up and go look for Aunt Weiss.

Mum gave me quick look but her attention went back to Natalia. I guess she wanted to learn a little more about faunus communities. I went by the kitchen and walked up to Aunt Weiss's door. I listened against the wood to see if she was in there but I didn't hear a thing. I then knocked and waited for a response.

I heard her voice call out. "Caden hasn't shown up has she?"  
I opened the door and walked in, closing it behind me. "Yep, and I'm right here."  
Aunt Weiss sat up in her bed and her face went wide. "I didn't expect you to show up so soon. Why are you here so early?"  
I sat in a chair next to her bed and smiled. "I wanted to surprise you guys. It worked on Mum and I nearly got crushed." I looked closely at Aunt Weiss and saw that her eyes were bloodshot and had bags under them. "Are you feeling okay? I didn't mean to interrupt your rest if you're still sick."  
She swiped a hand at her face and shook her head. "No, I'm fine. Just the after effects of whatever I had."  
I gave her a quick hug. "I'm sorry that you got so sick."  
She smiled at me. "It's fine. Maybe it's from the stress I had went through to train you for the last few days before you went to Beacon."  
"Don't say that, you'll make me feel guilty." I still smiled though. "I'm still having fun though. Thank you for helping me so much to get ready for it."  
She grabbed my hand. "It wasn't a problem. I knew how much stress it was for Ruby when she was leader."  
I decided to finally ask her something that was always on my mind. "What was Aunt Ruby like? You barely talk about her, and when you do, it's always something about how great a person she was."

The white-haired women looked like she aged another ten years. It took her awhile to find the words she wanted to say. "That's because she was. I never knew anyone who cared more about her friends and family. Ozpin made the right decision in making her our team leader. Smart and talented with her weapon. She helped me with my issues that threatened to break me. She helped Yang and Blake become a couple even. Without her, you wouldn't be here most likely."

Aunt Ruby was sounding more and more like the best person ever. But one question still bugged me. "If she was so skilled, then how did she die?"

This question looked like it had physically struck her. Aunt Weiss gripped her arms and looked at the wall behind me. "She was killed by some low-life criminal. He was trying to rob a dust store at night and we happened to have seen it happen. Ruby rushed us towards him and we immediately started fighting him and his goons. But things didn't happen like we wanted..." Aunt Weiss paused for a second, trying to gain strength. "..He shot her in the chest and then tried to escape the scene. Yang stopped him though and nearly killed him." Aunt Weiss's eyes had tears beginning to pool in them. "They couldn't do anything to save her. It had hit everyone hard."

I senselessly blurted out another question. "But she was skilled, wasn't she? How did he manage to hit her?"

A tear began to fall on her cheek. "Because I was supposed to be the one to die. He was aiming for me." Just talking looked like a struggle for the women. "I wasn't paying attention like I was supposed to and he had gotten behind me without me realizing it. An explosion had rang out behind me and she was on the ground. Oh God, it was horrible.." She tried to hide it but her tears wear not letting up. "It was my fault she's gone. I loved her so much."

I pulled the grieving woman into a hug, trying to comfort her as best as I could. Her body shook violently and I could feel my shirt getting wet. "I should have been the one to die, not her. It was my fault... my fault.." She kept on repeating it. I didn't know what to do for her. I've never had any experience with this kind of thing and I was at a loss for words.

Aunt Weiss's door opened and Mum walked in to see me and Aunt Weiss together. She immediately knew what was going on and closed the door and walked over to sit on her bed.

Mum spoke through Aunt Weiss's sobs. "Care to explain what is happening?"  
I looked down at the crying figure. "I had asked about Aunt Ruby since she was your teams leader. She told me how Aunt Ruby died."  
Mum frowned a little and nodded. "I see. It's a tough subject for all of us. More so for Weiss."  
Aunt Weiss's sobs were interrupted by her voice. "It was my fault. She would be her if it weren't for me."  
Mum pulled Aunt Weiss onto her and held her close. "If it wasn't for her, you wouldn't be here to remember her. I miss her as much as anybody but I can't stand to see my family in so much pain.  
Aunt Weiss looked up and saw that Mum had started crying to. "I'm sorry, Yang. With Caden leaving and me being so alone... it's just too much for me."  
Mum hugged her deeply. "You're not alone, you have Blake and I." Mum looked at me over Aunt Weiss. "And you have Caden."  
I took my cue and joined the hug. "Mum is right. I'll always be here for you. I didn't mean to bring up painful memories. I'm so sorry."  
Aunt Weiss seemed a little calmer now. "No, I'm sorry. I love you all so much."  
Mum nodded slowly. "We love you no matter what Weiss. Ruby's memory is best served as reminder to stay happy with ourselves. Don't lose yourself, Weiss. We will always be there to help you."

Even though I never have met or spoken with Aunt Ruby. I could feel the influence she had over my family. Even I felt like she was helping me, by bringing me closer to the people who were always in my life. I could see why Aunt Weiss had missed her so much.

* * *

**This chapter nearly ran shorter than the others but I managed to keep it up till the end. I hope I can keep up the motivation to write this even if it's blind. As always, reviews are welcome and remember to have fun! Also, enjoy the holidays since I don't know if I will have another chapter up before Christmas.**


	7. A Rolling Stone

**Even though I said I was having a hard time with ideas I managed to happily write this chapter. I'd like to give a shout out to Shi'uri for putting an extra little spark in my mind to get it done. Consider this chapter a Christmas present from me to you.**

* * *

**Caden**

It took us awhile but we eventually calmed down from the emotional high we were in. Aunt Weiss still had some tears but she was smiling now which definitely warmed me up. I was glad Mum had shown up, I don't know how I would have handled the situation. Aunt Weiss had never been this emotional in my presence.

Mum looked at both Aunt Weiss and me. "Is everyone doing okay?"  
Aunt Weiss nodded her head a little. "Yes, I'm feeling a bit better now." She turned towards me. "Thank you for coming to see me. I'm sorry that I had a moment there."  
I patted her hand. "It's fine. Everyone needs to vent sometime, and it just happened to be your turn."  
Mum stood. "I'm glad that it's all settled for right now. Caden, lets get back to the living-room before your mother bores your friend to death."  
I followed Mum to the door and opened it. "I'll talk to you later, Aunt Weiss. Please get better soon."  
Aunt Weiss waved. "I'll try, oh, and Yang, can you reach inside that drawer and toss what's inside it to me?"  
Mum obliged and took out a red scarf. She seemingly understood what it meant. "Here you go, Weiss. Will you be okay while we are out here?"  
Aunt Weiss wrapped the scarf around her neck, it's fabric a bright contrast against her white hair. "I think so. I'll be right here if you need anything."

Aunt Weiss went back to laying down and we left the room to let her rest. When we made it back to the living-room, Mother and Natalia were still talking and I almost hoped they didn't notice me and Mum's disappearance. Mum took one step and Mother immediately turned and stared at us. I've always hated when she would do that to us. It made me feel like I was paralyzed by her eyes alone. Mother was like a predator ready to pounce on us.

"So.." She began. "Where did you two go? It's rude to leave your guests alone."  
Mum stuttered a little. "B-But Natalia was with you. Besides, Caden and I went to go check on Weiss."  
Mother raised an eyebrow. "How was she?"  
Mum smiled. "We had a very involved family moment. I'll fill you in later after Caden leaves. I hope we didn't miss much."  
Mother shook her head. "Not really, no. Natalia was just talking about her old community. Such a fast talker she is."  
I saw Natalia's face redden. "I hope Mother didn't bore you. I had to go do something."  
Natalia raised a hand. "It's fine. Your mom is cool."  
Mum laughed. "Wow, Blake. You've finally hit 'cool' status. Congratulations, hun."

This was pretty much how the rest of our visit went. My parents seemed to have gotten a bit younger now that it wasn't just me in the house. I guess they were feeling old with Natalia around to remind them that I wasn't the only teenager in the world. It was nice to be back at my house even if it was only for today. I can't say I missed Mum's teasing though. She kept asking about if I had found a boyfriend or something but I just said no and tried to ignore her. School alone took up enough time as is.

About thirty minutes before the time I figured we needed to leave to get back to Beacon to not be past curfew, Mother had went into the kitchen and a delicious smell attacked my nose. I jumped up and ran into the kitchen and saw my favorite dish. Baked potatoes, salad, and the main dish, cooked salmon. It was like she didn't want me to leave at all.

I tried to sneak a bite but was slapped away. "Wait until the table." Mother pulled the plate away.  
I sighed and decided to wait. "What's all of this for?"  
Mother put some plates on our table. "I figured that a nice family dinner would be a perfect way to end your visit. Especially since you haven't had any real cooking for a whole week. I know what they serve at that school."

Mother called everyone in except for Aunt Weiss who opted to take a plate back to her room. Natalia was nice enough not to ask about her as she probably guessed that it was a tricky subject right now. After everyone sat down, Mum immediately began to rip apart every edible object in front of her. Mother just looked at her with a frown but said nothing. I guess after so many years of being with her she just gave up. I don't blame Mum though, this food was more than ten times the quality of what can be found at Beacon. Even Natalia couldn't help herself, even going as far as to ask for seconds.

Unfortunately, we got to the point where Natalia and I had to leave. We could have stayed longer but I didn't want to risk missing curfew and facing whatever punishment the teachers had.

Mother hugged me and barely tried to let me go. "Be careful on the way back. No detours, please."  
"It wasn't bad on the way up here. I'm sure we'll be fine on the way back." I assured her.  
Mum delivered one last back-breaking hug. "Stay tough. I'll make sure to check on Aunt Weiss for you later tonight."  
I nodded. "I didn't know."  
Mum shushed me. "It's okay. Besides, you were going to know at some point. But, enough with the sad stuff, you need to get going before you get in trouble. Plus, I'm sure your other teammates are wondering where you are."  
Natalia chimed in. "I doubt it. They've probably been training all day."  
Mother looked at me. "So while your teammates were bettering themselves, you were over here fattening yourself off my cooking. Something sounds off about that."  
I looked down at the ground. "I get it, I get it. We'll go ahead and leave."  
Mother just laughed and kissed my forehead. "I'm just giving you a hard time." She leaned in and whispered into my ear. "Although you may want to watch what you eat. Your behind is getting a little big."  
I jumped back with a red face. "MOM! Was that really necessary!?"  
Natalia looked confused. "Did I miss something?"  
"NO!" I yelled. I calmed myself down a little. "Lets just go before they say anything else."

We started on our way and I looked back to wave at my parents. They were yelling their good-byes and Mother was still laughing to herself. I was glad I was getting away from their jokes but I knew I was going to end up a little homesick when I made it back to Beacon. At least I had my friends to make me feel better. Natalia seemed to be enjoying the walk back, taking her time to look around and such.

"So what was that 'family moment' about earlier today?" Natalia asked, breaking the silence.  
I kept walking along the path. "It was about another member of my family who died before I was born. My aunt misses her a lot and today was especially bad for her."  
"Oh." Was all Natalia said, not wanting to pry apparently.

We kept walking in silence all the way back to Beacon. The sun was low but we thankfully didn't break curfew. We made it into the dorms and walked into our room where Lauro and Damien were waiting. They looked tired from whatever training they did today.

Damien saw us walk in. "Where were you two? I haven't seen you guys all day."  
I flopped onto my bed. "Natalia and I went to go see my parents today."  
Natalia copied my actions. "Yea, they were nice. Totally worth the walk."  
I turned over and looked at the ceiling. "You're just saying that because of the food they made us eat."  
Natalia looked insulted. "That's not true. They seemed like cool people. They food was just a bonus."  
Damien stood up. "Wait! You two went and ate home-cooked food without us?"  
I quickly apologized. "I didn't think you guys would want to see them, plus, you said you wanted to train with Lauro."  
Damien looked at Lauro. "Aren't you mad you got to miss some good food?"  
Lauro just went back to studying. "Food is food. Taste doesn't mean much when you need nutrients."  
Damien groaned. "You can be a real killjoy sometimes. I know I would have loved to get some good food. Beacon may be a top school but the food is barely good enough to not be considered fast food."  
I laughed. "Maybe next time I go see my parents you can come along with me. Just don't expect food since even I didn't expect my mother to make anything."

Damien just went back to lounging on his bed with a huff. I didn't feel like arguing with him and I was glad he gave up so easily. It was such a tiring day, both mentally and physically. Maybe I should have taken the airship instead of walking. I guess I'll consider it when I get ready to go see them again. The shower turned on and I saw that Natalia had left the room. She probably had the best idea, after walking all day, we probably both needed a shower. The boys were nice enough to not mention it if they had noticed. Oh well, I probably wouldn't have cared if they did, I was just too tired.

* * *

**Blake**

I knocked on Weiss's door. "It's open." I heard her say. I walked in and saw Weiss laying down with her scarf wrapped around her neck. She looked better than she did this morning at least. Her eyes were still puffy though. I walked over and sat on the chair that was pulled up next to her bed.

"How are you feeling, Weiss?" I asked.  
She gave me a smile. "A lot better now that I saw Caden. I'm guessing she has already left?"  
I nodded. "Yea, Caden and her friend left a couple hours ago."  
"I only saw her for a minute but her friend looked nice. I hope she'll keep Caden on track." Weiss said.  
A smile showed up on my face. "From what I've heard about her, I'm sure she will. She's a nice girl."  
Weiss smiled at that thought. "Good to know. Now I don't have to worry as much."  
"Weiss, you worry more about her than I do, and I'm her mother."  
Weiss just kept smiling. "I know, but she still is my niece. She's still a big part of my family."  
I didn't want to bring it up but I had to. "Are you going to stop the drinking, Weiss?"  
Her body went tense for a second. "I'll try, I really will. Sometimes it's easier just to check out though. I don't really want to but it helped me."  
I gave her a hug. "You don't need that stuff, Weiss. You have me and Yang to help you. We all know what you've had to go through and we want to help you as much as we can."  
"I know, Blake. Even Caden told me that."  
I pulled back and looked at her. "She doesn't know about the drinking does she?"  
Weiss shook her head. "Thankfully not. I don't want to stress her anymore than she already is."  
I laughed a bit. "That's true. She still hasn't even got to the hard part of the year yet."  
"Oh good lord, don't remind me. All of those tests."  
I stood. "Weiss, how about you get out of this room for awhile and come watch something with me and Yang? I promise not to get all lovey-dovey with her."  
Weiss pushed her covers back. "That sounds nice actually. I was in here all day and it's getting a little boring."

I helped her up and with an arm over her shoulder, we walked into the living-room where Yang was busy trying to find a movie to watch. She saw Weiss and smiled. She scooted over and gave her a spot to sit while I went to get something from the kitchen. When I came back, I saw Weiss and Yang laughing away at some joke I missed and enjoying themselves. It made me wish I had a camera so I could record this moment forever.

* * *

**Thank you to all who are still reading this and to those in the future who happen to find it. And before my final line, I would like to say that anybody who wants to write their own story, whether it be on this site or somewhere else, don't be afraid to. There are plenty of people who will want to read it and enjoy it. As always, reviews are welcome, and remember, have fun!**


	8. The First Drop of Wax

**Yay! I managed to get a chapter written even though the website wouldn't even let me get into my account at all yesterday and this morning! Hopefully everyone is able to get their stories updated properly without worry now.**

* * *

**Caden**

"Damien, can you please stop complaining and just do the job correctly?" I was tired of the boy's complaining.  
He snapped back at me. "What job? All we've been doing is walking around downtown like idiots. There's nothing to mess up!"  
Natalia jumped to my side. "That's the point! It's a patrol, not a hunting expedition."

It was understandable that everyone was getting bored after walking through our assigned spot in the city over three times in a row. Ozpin had called me up to his office early in the morning and offered me the mission with the promise that me and my team wouldn't have to take classes today. I failed to realize how boring the place could be when we weren't allowed to get distracted by the stores and people we met. I think Lauro was the only one who hadn't complained yet, but his interest in the mission seemed to have fallen greatly after the second round around downtown.

Natalia enjoyed the mission more than the others though. I figured it would fit her best since she got to keep moving rather than sit in those cramped rows where she couldn't do much more than tap her fingers or bounce her legs. Even after walking all day she was still walking with an energy-filled stride that even I couldn't match.

"Natalia, can you please slow down a little? I doubt we're going to find anything today." I said after having to speed up my steps again.  
She visually adjusted her pace. "Sorry, I didn't realize I was leaving you guys behind."  
I patted her back. "It's fine, but there's little reason to move so fast. There hasn't been any major crimes here for awhile."  
"Well, there are still the small-time criminals." Natalia pointed out.  
I knew about this already. "But those, the regular old police can take care of. There hasn't been any need for a team of hunters in this place for awhile. My parents' missions have always been based in the surrounding towns or wilderness."  
Lauro gave me a concerned look. "Your parents still go out on missions and such? Usually people retire when their kids are about to start their full-time training. I know mine did."  
I shook my head. "Not mine. They would probably rather die than give up what they love doing for a living."

I wasn't lying. Mother never fails to call me before her and Mum go out on an assignment. Even ones that are only expected to last a day. Granted they kind of slowed down on accepting them after I got into Beacon. I don't know if it's because they are getting older or they don't want to leave Aunt Weiss alone but it's nice to know they aren't putting themselves in harm's way so much anymore.

* * *

I stopped and looked up into the sky. The sun was low in the otherwise blue sky, like it was also tired of being in the city. We had made around four or so laps around the downtown area while also occasionally seeing the other team that was assigned to patrol the more "business oriented" side of town. Unfortunately, we didn't stick around to talk with them past simple greetings before we went off to do more rounds. It was about time for us to start heading back though, but first I had to fix a rising problem.

I dragged my team to a set of bathrooms. "Okay, I've got some business to take care of. You two stay out here." I said pointing at the already uninterested male members of my team.  
Damien just waved his hand at me. "You just hurry up. I want to go ahead and get back before dark." Lauro nodded his agreement.  
I just waved them off. "Come on Natalia, might as well stay authentic and stay in pairs at least."  
She didn't look like she had a problem with it. "Okay. I want to wash my face a little anyway."

We went inside and it took awhile for me to find a usable stall. Most of them either had an "out of order" sign or were strangely locked. When I finally found the only usable stall I didn't hesitate to quickly run in and slam it shut before someone else took it away. I could here Natalia washing her face at some random sink. Her humming was the only sound in the desolate bathroom which was odd for downtown at this time of day. I would expect people to be walking all around this area trying to get home or trying to find some entertainment for the night.

The sink Natalia was using was shut off and I assumed she was done and waiting for me. I started to stand but the lights flashed out and caused me stumble against the wall. A sharp pain hit my calf but it went away fast. I regained my balance and felt my way out of the stall.

I felt Natalia grab my shoulder. "Whoa, are you okay? I heard you hit against the wall in there."  
"Yea, the lights going out disoriented me. I'm fine though. Let's get out of this restroom." I was thankful for the fact that the sunlight made it easy to find the exit in this darkness.

We made it out and found the bored boys sitting on a bench resting their feet. They simply just looked at us and stood up to get ready.

"About time, ladies. What took so long?" Damien asked.  
I pointed back at the bathrooms. "The lights went out in there and nearly made me run into a wall. The city needs to fix that."  
Lauro looked around at the other lighting fixtures in the area. "Odd, the other lights didn't seem to be affected while we were waiting. I wonder what the reason is for it."  
I didn't want to wait. "Lets just go. I hit my leg on the wall and I want to get back to our room and rest."

Everyone agreed with me and we started on our way back to Beacon. The school was at least kind enough to give us a transport on an airship since it was a school-sanctioned assignment. It gave me time to think about how I will probably be a lot more hesitant about accepting an assignment to "patrol" an area or town. Still no classes though, which was about the only solace in this whole non-adventure.

The ship landed and everyone got up to get off. Lauro offered me a hand to get up and we left to head towards the dorms. I gave my slightly aching leg a quick pat before we entered the door and headed upstairs.

* * *

"Oh yes! My bed, how I missed you!" Damien face-planted into his pillow.  
Lauro was next to move through our door. "A little dramatic are we?"  
Damien didn't bother lifting his head up for his reply. "I'll let you know when I'm dead from exhaustion."  
Natalia laughed. "Yea, yea, short stuff. Just go ahead and sleep already."

Everyone was seemingly having fun, which was good. I, on the other hand, felt odd. I nearly stumbled onto my bed and my head was dizzy. I looked around the room with a heavy head and it felt like everything was shifting to the left and sideways. It nearly made me throw up onto my feet. Thankfully, I had refrained from eating much today. I looked up and saw Lauro giving me quizzical look at his normal desk. His desk began melting behind him as if it had magically turned into some kind of molten liquid. I tried to move a hand and warn him but my body was heavy and tired.

Lauro stood and walked towards me. "Caden? Are feeling okay?" He looked into my eyes and I saw what looked like a dying flame. The flame flickered defiantly right before a hand closed around it and snuffed it out. Lauro's hand reached up to my forehead and felt it. The touch felt like a million needles on my skin. It hurt so bad that I slapped his hand away and backed all the way to other side of the bed. "Uhh, guys? There's something wrong with Caden!" Natalia rushed out of the bathroom to see what the scholarly man was yelling about. She ran up to get a look at me but I wouldn't let her near me. Her body turned dark and her eyes were red. Her shape shifted into a dark figure with no actual features to be seen besides the claws on her hands that made it look like she had her gauntlets on.

The shadow got closer. "What's wrong, Caden?"  
I kicked out at it. "STAY AWAY!"  
Lauro turned to the dark figure. "Did something happen today that I happened to not notice? She's hallucinating and is hotter than a light-bulb!"  
"Not from what I can remember. She's been fine all day!"

The dark figure once again tried to close the gap between me and it. I kicked at it again and my foot connected with it's arm. It pulled away and stood it's distance. I smiled at my menial victory and tried prop myself up on my arm. My arms went weak though and I fell against my bed. Lauro went around my bed and inspected me without touching me, most likely in fear of my quick reflexes. "Damien! Go get a professor or a doctor. I don't care who, just get someone!" I watched Lauro and the dark figure loom over me. The ceiling above them looked like it was cracking and about to collapse. My vision started to fade, blackness inching its way across my eyes. I laughed at the thought of the ceiling crashing down on us and then I closed my eyes to wait for it.

* * *

*_Beep* Ow. *Beep* Ow. *Beep* Ow! *Beep* _"OW!" I shot up in my bed. "Someone turn whatever that is off!"

I held my head in my hands, hoping to press a headache out of my head. I looked up and blinked at my surroundings. This was definitely not my dorm room. Just plain white walls with a simple chair and a heart-rate monitor hooked into me. Natalia was in the chair looking at me, looking surprised by my outburst.

She jumped up and gave me a hug. "Yes, you're awake!"  
I just sat there. "What happened?"  
Natalia sat back down. "You just randomly went crazy after we got back from our assignment. You even gave me a bad bruise on my arm when you kicked me." She peeled back her sleeve where a big blotch of black, blue and yellow was.  
The thought that I had attacked my own teammate floored me. "I kicked you? When?"  
The frizzy-haired girl laughed at my concern. "It was last night. Don't worry though, I'll be fine. We were just worried about you."

At that moment, the rest of my team and a doctor walked into the room. They tried to talk to me all at once but it just made my headache worse. The doctor was thoughtful enough to interrupt them and quiet them down for me. "Please, students! Calm yourselves! This young lady is probably dealing with an incredible headache after her body had to deal with the effects of the poison."

I shot a look at the doctor. "Poison? What poison?"  
He walked around to the foot of my bed and tapped my right calf which made me wince. "There was a puncture wound on your leg. We think that is where it entered your bloodstream. It was pretty common poison so we were able to treat you quickly enough to stop it from causing any permanent injuries. Can you recall when and where you injured your leg?"  
I thought for a moment and then it hit me. "While we were patrolling downtown Vale, I went into the bathroom and entered a stall. The lights went out for some reason and my leg felt like something stabbed into it. I thought I had just accidentally jabbed it into something but maybe your idea fits better."  
The doctor thought about it for a moment and nodded. "I think that sounds like a good guess. I'll have someone go investigate today and see if there was anything odd in the area. As for you, I think you are well enough to leave and go on with your daily activities. Your leg will be sore for a day or two but you'll be fine afterwards."

* * *

**Blake**

The sun had finally gone down and the night was ready to greet us as we all gathered in the living room to watch our movie of choice. Weiss was busy chattering away with Yang while I got the coffee table ready with our favorite snacks. This was a more and more common thing with us after Weiss began getting out of her episodes. I would still occasionally smell alcohol on her breath but there was nothing as bad as when Caden left. She was even getting along better with Yang which was a surprise to me after so many years of them butting heads about random trivial things.

"Hurry up, Blakey!" Yang whined. "It's cuddle time!"  
I groaned. "I hate that nickname! Where did you come up with that?"  
Weiss giggled in her chair. "I think it fits you, Blake."  
My face flamed. "She doesn't need your help, Weiss."

Yang grabbed my arm and reeled me onto the couch, ready to start the movie. Weiss picked up the remote to the T.V. and was about to hit play but my scroll lit up and buzzed on the coffee table. I looked at it and saw that it was Professor Ozpin. It was rare for the man to make calls outside of the school so I immediately picked it up to see what the situation was.

Ozpin's face looked a little grim on the screen. "I'm sorry to interrupt your evening, Miss Belladonna."  
I wanted to skip straight to the business. "What is the reason for you to call us so late?"  
"I know this is going to be tough to hear but it's about your daughter, Cadenza." He didn't dare to look away.  
Yang pushed her way in front of the screen. "What about her? What happened?"  
Ozpin took a sip from his mug and turned back toward the screen. "While her and her team were out on an assignment an incident occurred."  
Yang wasn't happy at his slow explanation. "Spit it out before I come over there myself!"  
The tired man only blinked. "Caden was poisoned. We don't know why or by who."  
My grip on the scroll nearly broke it. "Is she okay? Please tell me she is okay!"  
"She is doing fine. The poison chosen was made from a common herb that can be found in any forest and because of that, we had no problem ridding her body of the substance." Ozpin was at least smiling during this explanation.  
I still had another question. "Ozpin, who would want to poison her? She's only a student at your school. There shouldn't be any reason for someone to want to kill her."  
His face fell grim once again. "If they wanted to kill her, they would have used something stronger. No, no, I think that this person was trying to send a message. I'm still trying to figure out what it is."  
"A message? To who? It makes no sense." I felt like throwing the stupid piece of electronic scrap at the wall.  
Ozpin sighed. "I know that. I'll contact you if something else comes up about the incident but your daughter is doing okay. She should be up and ready by tomorrow."  
Yang had to have the last word. "You need to figure it out before something else happens to our daughter! You better keep her safe!"

* * *

**This chapter definitely ended up longer than I anticipated. Also, I found a new word to hate, poison. Just look at it for awhile and you'll see how just how annoying it is. As always though, reviews are welcome and please remember to have fun!**


	9. A Generation's Worry

**Welcome to 2014 everyone! New year, new chapter! I hope everyone enjoys it! Also, if you haven't noticed already, the chapters have been kind of slowing down. I don't know why but I feel like I have been losing the motivation to write. It must be torture to those of you who were used to seeing a new chapter each day when I was still writing "It Takes Some Time." I'll try my best to keep this story up though so don't worry.**

* * *

**Blake**

It felt odd being back at Beacon. Especially without the stress of tests of professors breathing down my neck. Yang and I didn't have much time to reminisce in our memories of the place, the good ones anyway. Ozpin had invited us so he could speak about what he managed to find out about our daughter's run in with an unseen assassin. It was surprising to me that someone had tried to poison her and Yang definitely wasn't taking it well. She was constantly watching everyone in the school and it took a lot of convincing from me to not go running off to find Caden before we met Ozpin.

When we finally made it up to his office, it still took a couple of minutes before he finally was ready to let us in. It had been a long time since we were face-to-face with the man but he really has aged a bit. I guess all of the stress of running things around here really has gotten to him. This must be part of the reason why Weiss didn't stick with being the main leader of the Schnee Dust Company. Ozpin didn't smile at our presence but I wouldn't call the look he gave us a frown.

He skipped the formalities. "Thank you for coming straight to my office instead of seeing your daughter. I would rather keep this visit quiet right now so I don't have to worry about any unneeded attention."  
Yang brushed his calmness aside. "What exactly did you figure out?"  
Ozpin sighed. "Not much unfortunately. I had a colleague go and inspect the bathrooms where Cadenza said she was injected. The lights worked fine and the stalls were all in working order. Behind one of the toilets though, was a hastily discarded needle and vial. We tested both and the substance matched what was found in Cadenza bloodstream. So either she was being a dumb teenager, or someone was purposely trying to hurt her."  
I tried to take it all in. "This doesn't make sense, Ozpin. She's not even a full fledged huntress yet."  
Ozpin held up a hand. "Who ever it was didn't try very hard. There are many more lethal poisons to choose from and they chose one of the weakest to use on her."  
Yang's aura threatened to light the room. "I don't care if they succeeded or not! Someone tried to kill my daughter and your sitting there poking fun at their choice of assassination?"  
"Ms. Long, I assure you I've done what I can to protect her. Right now I have no plans on letting her out of my school's sight. If anything were to happen to her, I would be able to see it coming." His hand tapped a monitor on his desk.  
Yang still wasn't satisfied. "I hope you can keep your word then, or else.."  
Ozpin raised an eyebrow. "I know she's your daughter but dramatic scenes aren't needed right now."

We knew he was right but I don't think he can understand the worry and stress we're facing right now. He never looked like the kind of man who had kids. I guess that was helpful in this situation since he was able to remain calm even when faced with Yang's anger.

Ozpin grabbed his cane. "Thank you for not being completely unreasonable. Cadenza is a capable girl and now she is even leading her own team. If I thought she needed anymore help than that then I probably wouldn't have let her in this academy in the first place." He stood and began walking through the door. "Now that we're done here, you can go see your daughter if you wish. She and her team should be done with today's classes and duties. But you have to leave by our curfew. I can't have visitors staying after dark."

I could see Yang's face lighten up at the man's statement. At least the day wasn't going to be a complete waste for us. I just hope Caden wasn't going to be too annoyed at us showing up here unexpectedly. Besides, I want to meet the other members of her team that didn't come with her to see us.

* * *

**Caden**

I turned off the sink and ran a rag lightly on the cut on my cheek. The dummies in training may not attack back but when you hit them with a scythe at high speeds those pieces of wood inside them can get some lucky hits in. Thankfully it was just a cut and not a piece of wood impaling me. One injury is enough for the week. I put the rag down and walked out into my room where my friends and teammates waited.

"Did the dummy give you a shiner, Caden?" Damien joked.  
I didn't find the joke funny. "You know it was just a cut. Besides, I got more of them than you did."  
Natalia looked up from her desk. "Are you two still on about that? Lauro has you both beat so I don't know why you guys are arguing over it."  
I looked at a silently smiling Lauro. "Yea, but he always has a better score than me."  
Lauro felt the need to defend himself. "I just do the best I can. I don't really try to beat you guys."  
Damien laughed at that. "He can even brag about himself without trying. The professors must love you."  
Lauro shot Damien a glare. "At least I don't give them a reason to dislike me, like sleeping in class or being late."  
"I don't do that stuff _that_ much anymore! At least, not when Caden is the one pushing me out the door." Damien deflated into his bed.  
I tossed a pillow at him. "That's because no one else here is persistent enough to deal with you."  
Damien threw the pillow off his bed. "You really know how to give the compliments."

A sharp knock interrupted our laughs. Everyone just kind of looked at the door which is understandable because none of us were expecting a visitor. The knock happened again, almost breaking the door itself. "Caden! Hurry up and open the door already, we heard you guys laughing in there!" I immediately ran to open the door. That voice was unmistakably Mum's and it was a bad idea to leave her waiting. My backside had learned that lesson many times when I was younger.

The second I unlocked the door and turned the handle, it was like an explosion had blown the door open. A flash of yellow bolted forward and scooped me up, and with the force of twenty men, nearly crushed me in a hug. "I'm so glad your okay! Are you feeling better? You haven't been pushing yourself too much today have you?" The questions wouldn't stop.

"Yang, dear. Caden can't talk with you crushing her lungs." Mother simply walked into the room, closing the door like a normal person.  
Mum dropped me. "I'm sorry, Caden. Are you feeling better though?"  
I could only assume that Ozpin had contacted them about my incident. "Yea, my leg still is just a little sore but I'm at full capacity."  
Mother felt my forehead. "That's good. It's great to see that Beacon has kept the medical staff fully prepared still."

I noticed my teammates haven't really said anything a this point. Damien and Lauro were probably surprised at the sudden bum rush from Mum when I answered the door. I could see Lauro's hand oddly close to where he rested his sword.

"Don't worry Lauro, they're just my parents. No need for you to pull out Tower. Besides, I doubt you could have beaten Mother's speed." I walked over to my bed.  
Natalia relinquished her chair and offered it to Mother. "Here you go. I bet you're tired of walking."  
Mum showed some mock disappointment. "Why not me? I've been walking for awhile to."  
Natalia just shrugged and jumped onto my bed. "You don't seem like the kind of person who minded standing for awhile."  
"That's true. I just like acting a little dramatic from time to time." She mimed a faint before going to stand behind Mother.  
Mother just rolled her eyes. "Don't remind me, Yang. I swear, you looked like you were having more trouble than me when I was giving birth to Caden."  
I quickly stopped that conversation. "Please, not in front of my friends."  
Mother finally took in the remaining members of Team CNDL that she hadn't met yet. "So these two are your male teammates?"  
"Yep." I thought it was obvious.  
Mum looked them over. "Tall, blond, and handsome seems cool but the other guy seems a little scrawny."  
Damien put up protest. "Hey, I can hold my own."  
I quickly backed him up. "It's true. He even stopped Natalia from getting gutted once."  
Mum looked him over again. "As long as he isn't completely useless then."  
Mother just waved her opinions off. "I'm pretty sure that's not your decision, Yang."

This was pretty much how my parents' visit went. Even with the insult earlier, Damien was warming up to them. Mum was telling exaggerated stories about her time in the school while Mother would provide the needed details so no one got the wrong idea. Seeing them in this atmosphere was pretty nice. I rarely asked about their school life and Mum's stories made me realize just how long a life they have had. Strangely though, I noticed the lacking presence of my Aunt. I would think she wouldn't miss a chance to see me or give me advice about this place.

I dared to interrupt Mum's latest story about their last mission. "Hey, where's Aunt Weiss? She didn't want to come visit me?"  
Mother shook her head. "When we came here, we had to talk to Ozpin first. Weiss doesn't particularly like him that much. She feels like it was partly his fault about what happened to Ruby."  
Mum patted Mother's shoulder. "Yea. She's back at home and doing fine though. No reason to worry."  
I simply nodded my understanding. "I hope so."  
Mum shot me a winning smile. "Don't worry too much. Now where was I? Oh, right. The beowolves that we met on our way there were some tough customers.."

And off there she goes into her story. It was hard to sidetrack Mum when she had her mind set on something.

* * *

**Weiss**

God, I wish those two would get back soon. Every time they go somewhere I get stuck being bored alone in this house. Television isn't fun if there's no one to talk with while watching it. Without them it's just mindless dribble. And I wasn't about to put myself near Ozpin and his smug, little smile. If I had went with them I was liable to try and deck him like he deserves. Instead, I get to clean an already spotless house. No Caden meant that there was a considerably smaller mess to actually clean besides some stray pillows that may or may not have been thrown by me and Yang during our movie night.

The chore didn't last long for me though. Even with my impeccable eye for detail. Not even a wrinkle on the couch could get past my attention. I went over to check the porch in the backyard. We rarely did much there besides training but I had to keep things nice. I walked out and took a look around, making sure everything was where it was supposed to be.

As I moved a chair back to its spot under a glass table, my ears picked up the familiar whine of an airship flying through the air. I quickly looked up over the treetops. The view quickly confirmed what my ears were already telling me. An unmarked airship was flying low over the forest and thankfully, not towards me. It was odd though. There was never an airship scheduled to fly in this area and unmarked ships were illegal to use. Then I remembered something important, the direction it was flying was toward Beacon. It was still a bit of a distance away so you couldn't see it but Blake said that it was the direction Caden and her friend went when they left from their last visit. There was something going on here and I didn't like it.

I decided I needed to investigate this ship and went to grab Myrtenaster from his case. I didn't plan on using it but I needed a backup plan. Plus, if my suspicions are right, after hearing what happened to Caden, I may have to come out of retirement. Outside, the airship was about to get as close as it was going to get to my house. I checked to make sure I had all of my equipment set correctly and that Myrtenaster was loaded properly and ran out into the forest, towards the airship. When I estimated I was close enough, I set up a series of glyphs to increase my momentum. The airship's engines got louder as I approached it. Even at this distance, I still didn't see a single sign of what its purpose was. At the end of my line of glyphs, I placed one more to send me flying behind the ship and ontop of it. One final glyph slowed my descent so my added weight wouldn't cause a disturbance in the ship's flight as it headed toward Beacon.

I didn't dare do much more than wait. I didn't know this ships purpose yet and if it is going to Beacon, then I want to know what it wants with the school.

* * *

**I hope everyone has great plans to enjoy this new year! I plan on trying to enjoy it as much as I can. 2013 wasn't a bad year but it feels great to have a new start. Good luck everyone! As always, reviews are welcome, and please remember to have fun!**


	10. The Suffocated Flame

**Another chapter before I get thrown back into the school life! Yay! I hope you guys enjoyed the in-between story that I had posted while trying to write this. Enjoy.**

* * *

**Weiss**

It was maybe a little over thirty minutes when I saw Beacon's tower like buildings begin to show up. The ride was cold but whoever was flying this ship hasn't noticed my presence. My theory was right on where they were going but I wish it wasn't. Depending on why they came here, Caden was potentially in danger.

The ship slowed down over the forest as it got closer to the school. My guess is that they didn't want to attract any unwanted attention while they still had the element of surprise. It descended and touched down on the forest floor, the back hatch lowering down so its occupants could leave. As the first couple exited down the ramp, I backed a little and crouched down so they couldn't see me. The small squad gathered outside the ship and examined the area around the landing sight, trying to see if they were being watched. Thank goodness no one ever looks straight up. Once they thought they weren't being watched, they gathered back together in small group.

Each one was wearing a deep black mask with no truly unique features. If they were part of some organization then they certainly didn't want it to be known. There was five people in this group, all holding a simple sword with a rifle on their backs. It was an odd choice of weapons when it seemed like they were about to go into a school made specifically to train hunters.

"Everyone ready now?" One of the figures asked, walking into the middle.  
All of them nodded.  
"Good. We're here today because there is couple here today that our boss wants." He pulled out two pictures. "This is them. They are supposed to be inside this school right now. Our job is to grab at least one of them but the boss would prefer that we got both."

From my perch I could see the pictures he was holding. I almost gasped at what I saw on them. Both Yang and Blake were displayed prominently in each picture. I immediately felt the need to do something but I couldn't give up my hiding spot.

"Remember, we're not here to attack the students or cause total chaos. Stick to the plan we set and don't mess this up. We're checking this side of the school but we have another team coming in from the opposite side to search over there." It took me a second to register what he said. Someone had enough resources to send in two teams with airships to get only Blake and Yang. The man pulled his rifle of his back. "Okay, everyone understand? Good lets go!"

They started walking toward the school but I didn't plan on letting them sneak in. Before they got too far away from the ship I pulled Myrtenaster from my hip and started sending bolts of red dust into the sky. They weren't exactly flares but hopefully someone in the school would notice and bring it to attention. The masked men weren't happy with it though. They heard every shot going off behind and turned to see what was going on. I jumped off the airship and raised my rapier at them. Two of them raised their rifles at me while the others stood back with their swords. "Playing hero today, little lady? Well you've messed up big time, coming after us and trying to mess up our plan and such. Now, be a good girl and put the sword down before you get some unsightly holes in you."

Like hell if I was going to give them a chance to hurt my family. Without even thinking about it, I rushed them, placing a blue glyph below the men that had rifles. Their attempted shots missed as their bodies started to fly up into air. Their friends with swords were too distracted by their floating comrades to notice me running right at them. I slammed Myrtenaster into the ground in front of one and completely encased him in ice. The others weren't that lucky, unfortunately for them. They made the mistake of trying to attack my family and I had no remorse for what I was doing.

The remaining sword wielders recovered and charged me, hoping to get a lucky strike on me. One swung at me and I placed a red glyph to send his sword flying back into his shoulder. His friend ignored his screams and tried to sweep my legs. His plan failed as I used another blue glyph to launch myself over and behind him. I returned his slash with a stab into his spine. This one didn't have much chance to scream before he collapsed onto the ground. The one who had a sword embedded into his should was still yelling about his mistake and I decided to have mercy on him and stabbed him through his heart to finish him quickly. It seemed my skills haven't rusted all that badly it seemed.

I didn't have much time to think about it though as the two gunman were back on the ground, scrambling for their weapons. They were able to reach their weapons but they soon found themselves unable to move as I placed two black glyphs over both of them. I calmly walked up to both of them and walked slowly around them.

One wasn't afraid to talk. "You're not going to get any information out of us, if that's what you want!"  
I just laughed at him. "That's why I have your frozen friend over there. I don't you two for anything."  
"What your just going to kill us then?" He asked with some worry in his voice.  
I shook my head. "Nope. The grimm are. You won't need these." I took their weapons away from them. "Now, have fun you two. Play nice with the ursas!"

I tilted the glyphs back a little and changed them to red. The energy I put into each glyph sent the two flying far into the forest, where the grimm were the most dense. Their yells were short lived though. I heard footsteps running up behind and I turned to see Glynda Goodwitch ready to attack.

"It's about time someone got here." I stated plainly at her.  
She looked very annoyed at my demeanor. "What in the world is going on here? I saw some lights flying out of the forest and rushed over as soon as possible."  
I put a hand. "There are some masked criminals trying to kidnap my friends. I took care of one group but there is another airship around here carrying more of them."  
Glynda just nodded at me and started to tap on her scroll. "I've just told Ozpin what you have said. He'll be watching everything he possibly can. You can come with me to search on foot."  
"I'm surprised you're trusting me so easily."  
She smiled a little. "That's because I remember you, Miss Schnee. I doubt you wouldn't do anything to help someone."

* * *

**Caden**

The day was winding down pretty well. My parents were both having a wonderful time and I was actually enjoying my time with them. Mum's stories really interested both Damien and Lauro. They were listening on the edge of their seats pretty much the whole time while she would mime out the battles she has had with monsters and other people. Mother would occasionally talk with Natalia about random everyday things and sometimes clarifying a wrong detail in Mum's story. Unfortunately, good things never last that long.

Just as Mum was finishing her latest story, a red light shined through our window. The flash didn't have much meaning to me but Mother seemed to know exactly what it meant. She stood and rushed to the window, trying to find where it came from. Mum had stopped her story and was waiting for an answer from Mother.

Mother turned away from the window. "That was definitely made from dust. Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Yang?"  
Mum stood and checked her gauntlets. "If it's Weiss, then yea."  
I didn't know what was going on and looked at Mother. "What's going on?"  
Mother had left the window and went towards the door. "I think Weiss is here and trying to warn the school about something. She's the only person I know who can use dust like that."  
Mum started to join Mother at the door. "That's true. She may be in trouble and we need to go check it out."  
I stood and put Thorn on my hip. "If that's the case, then me and my team will come help."  
Mum smiled. "That's not completely necessary, Caden. Me and your mother can handle ourselves."  
My team all stood and got their weapons ready. I shook my head at Mum. "So can we. Besides, strength in numbers, right?"

Mother smiled and left through the open door. Before she got completely out, she waved us to follow her. We rushed through, trying to follow her fast feet. She seemed to know where exactly to go, rushing through multiple hallways without second thought on where to go. I pushed myself harder and started running next to her. "Where did the flare come from?" I had asked. Without losing a step, she replied, "The forest." I nodded and fell back to my team to lead them on the correct path.

It wasn't long before we had pushed through the doors to the outside. We still had maybe a couple paths left until we cold make a beeline for the forest. Mother wasted no time and started running, trying to take the fastest path possible. Trying to keep up with her was hard and it was made worse by a growing, high-pitched whine. It was distracting me and I could see that everyone else was trying to figure out what it was. We soon learned what it was though, as a gust of wind nearly blew me over when an unmarked airship recklessly touched down in front of us. Our path was blocked and a group of people piled out of the ship, all with a simple rifle or sword. My parents had quickly moved in front of my team, ready to try and defend us.

The masked thugs didn't bother saying anything, they instead started running at us. Mother pulled out her weapon and started slicing them and dodging blows while Mum was taking care of any who tried to attack Mother from behind. They couldn't get all of them at once though and my team and I were left to defend ourselves from the enthusiastic attackers. One of the thugs raised a rifle at us and fired, intending to hit Lauro. Damien was faster on the draw and used his semblance to block the attack. The bullets stopped an inch away from Lauro, but he wasn't phased and charged the offender with his sword glowing white. Lauro swung and hit the man in his side causing it to freeze over. It must have frozen more than just his outside though because he clutched the wound and started yelling until he collapsed. I was nearly too distracted by Lauro's battle to notice a man with a sword trying stab me in the back. I shadow-stepped to the side and slammed Thorn into his legs destroying any chance he had at moving.

I was proud at my actions but it got the better of me. A quick turn back to the fight showed two men approaching me. One with a sword and the other with some weird looking fire arm. The one with a sword rushed me after he saw he lost the element of surprise and I was barely able to block it with Thorn's handle. He was physically stronger than me though and I was losing the stand-off with him as he slowly pushed me back trying to knock me on the ground. Right before I knew my balance would fail me, Mum had rushed in and fired off a powerful punch from her gauntlets, almost deafening my ears. Her eyes were crimson and I could feel the heat fuming out of her. Just paused and looked at me. "Get your head into the game, Caden! This isn't practice!" She was about to run back out into the fray but before she even moved a foot, she winced and her eyes faded back to her normal color before she closed them and fell to the ground. Her neck was exposed and I saw needle sticking into her. The other thug had apparently fired some kind of dart gun or something at her.

He was moving closed to finish the job but Mother had noticed what was going on and shadow-stepped in front of Mum's body. I called my team to fall back to where I was and we tried to surround Mum so no one could reach her. The leftover men took notice and one pulled out what looked like a dust explosive and tossed it into our group. We immediately scattered without thinking to avoid it. I saw Mum's body still close to it and nearly panicked. I didn't even turn towards him and instead yelled. "Damien!" Right before the device went off, I saw a faint distortion appear between it and Mum. It exploded like it was planned and a cloud of dust covered the area. I fumbled around in it, trying to figure out was going on. I heard the airship's whine start up again, blowing even more clouds of dust over us. Ten seconds later and the cloud had blown away, revealing my team trying to figure out what happened and Mother running around looking for something. I turned and looked around. It seemed the enemy had retreated, leaving their injured and fallen comrades behind. I could see the airship flying low and fast away from the school and over the forest. But there was something missing here, and it hit me like a train. They had taken Mum before they left.

Mother had figured this out apparently was standing aside, watching the airship fly off. She knew she wouldn't be able to catch it but I was sure she was screaming at herself inside. I know I was. I left Mum unconscious and unprotected because of my stupid mistake, and now I couldn't do anything to fix it. Mother's ears twitched and pulled out Gambol Shroud, pointing it down the path. I picked up what she was hearing and readied Thorn to fight. Footsteps came from around the corner and revealed Aunt Weiss running alongside Professor Goodwitch. Mother and I lowered our weapons and waited for them to get to us.

Goodwitch was the first to speak. "What happened? Was there an airship?"  
Mother nodded. "Yea, they just left after attacking us." She put her hand out to include me and my team.  
Aunt Weiss blurted our her question. "Where's Yang? Is she okay?"  
Mother lowered her head a little but raised it back. "Before the attackers left, they knocked her out and took her. We couldn't do anything. They used an explosion to distract us."  
Aunt Weiss's eyes went wide. "This isn't good. There was another airship that landed in the forest and the group in it had said that they were looking for you and Yang. I stopped that group but they said there was another airship coming in. It must be the one that attacked you guys."  
Mother turned towards Goodwitch. "Where was the school's defense? They should have been out by now."  
Goodwitch looked at her scroll. "I don't know, honestly. I told Ozpin about the attack and he would have done something by now."  
Aunt Weiss sighed at this. "Ozpin you over-confident bastard."  
Mother looked around at the scene. "What do we do know? We have to find Yang but we can't catch up to that ship."  
Aunt Weiss thought for awhile and smiled. "The first airship that landed in the forest is still there. We could use that. It probably still has the coordinates of where it came from on it."  
Mother started adjusting her gear and waved at me and my team. "Is everyone still able to fight?"  
We all looked each other over and nodded at her.  
"Good, we're going to go get Yang back. Follow Weiss and don't get left behind."

* * *

**Phew, that was a long chapter, wasn't it? I hope everyone enjoyed it. Also I changed to M rating because I want to stay safe just in case I get a demented idea or two while making the next few chapters. As always, reviews are welcome and remember to have fun!**


	11. A Relit Past

**I can't help but feel like this chapter was a little late but it can't be helped, I guess. Also, thank you to AwnK for pointing out my big screw up in chapter 8. Caden is a faunus, a cat faunus to be exact and the darkness shouldn't have affected her. I'm not going to try and explain that one away and will admit that I should have noticed that before posting the chapter. This is why reviews are important to use, they help fix mess ups. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

**Caden**

I've never been on an airship this stressful before. Everyone was pretty much silent the whole time, awkwardly looking around at the others. Aunt Weiss was overseeing the flight path and was stuck in the cockpit while Mother was waiting in the back with me and my team. Professor Goodwitch didn't join us, saying something about the school's security and so it just ended up being the six of us. Mother was visibly anxious with the situation. She couldn't stop fidgeting and it as we flew it would get worse than Natalia's little ticks. After I herd Mother's foot tap the ground for the hundredth time, I decided I couldn't take take it anymore and yelled up towards the cockpit.

"Please tell me we're close, Aunt Weiss!"  
She didn't bother turning around and looking at me. "I think we are but I'm not sure. I see a lot of trees but the computer says we're close."  
Mother stood and walked to the cockpit. "Is it busted or something?"  
I could here Aunt Weiss tap on the controls. "It shouldn't be. Do you see anything, Blake?"  
I saw Mother lean over a little. "Nope, just trees for mi... wait. There's a clearing coming up just over the treetops."  
Aunt Weiss confirmed it. "You're right. I think I see a radio tower in there."  
Mother began to step out of the cockpit. "Okay, I think we found our hideout. Weiss, land this ship in the forest. We can't let them know we're here."

The ship stopped suddenly and descended below the treeline. Aunt Weiss managed to set it down gently enough to where it didn't cause too much of a commotion. Everyone was getting their equipment ready. Natalia checking to make sure her gauntlets were still sharp, Lauro made made his sword glow bright red to check to make sure the dust worked, and Damien was checking his supply of bolts for his weapon. No one looked all that excited for this kind of event. We had training and such but it's just like Mum had said before the drugged her. It was the real thing. No dummies and no Professors to stop something from hurting us.

After we walked off, Mother and Aunt Weiss stayed inside to talk about something, I guess to get a plan straight, before they decided to join us outside. When they did finally leave, Mother didn't say much. She looked toward where the clearing was and examined the immediate area. After maybe ten minutes of this, she finally walked back to our group to speak to us.

Mother waved Aunt Weiss over to join us. "I guess no one knows we're here since there doesn't seem to be anyone coming to investigate."  
Aunt Weiss took a final sweeping glance. "That's good. Is everyone ready? This won't be some training exercise."  
I took the helm at this. "I say we're ready. We're a pretty well off team, you know."  
Aunt Weiss laughed. "Yea, with only a couple months of training. Remember, you're mostly support for this. Just keep safe and back me and your mother up."  
I wasn't happy about it but I nodded. "Fine. Whatever you say Aunt Weiss."  
Mother clapped and got our attention. "We're not doing anything fancy. We need to get in and out with Yang. Lets try to avoid confrontation as much as possible."

Without waiting for any more input from me, Mother began walking toward where we saw the clearing. It took a bit of walking and dealing with the forest shrubbery but it wasn't bad. My team obviously remembered their training, never getting tripped up on roots or shrubs. Aunt Weiss didn't look all too fond of the setting though with her clothes getting caught on random branches. Mother though, was at the head of the pack, watching everything all while dodging any plant that threatened to stop her from reaching her objective.

The trees began to thin out after walking for maybe ten minutes. The clearing was exactly what it was, a random abnormality in the forest where no trees grew to protect the ground with their leaves. There wasn't much to see, except for a suspicious radio tower that stood in the middle of the field. There wasn't any wires connected to it that would lead from a civilized town or city but it looked clean and new. When we got closer to it, we saw that it had not even one speck of rust on it. Someone was making sure this stayed well managed. Now if only we knew who it was that was keeping everything in check.

The radio tower was pretty much our only clue as to what we should do though. We inspected it but found nothing except for some wires at the base of it going into the ground. Mother decided we should all split up to search for anything that could help us in this clearing. There wasn't much sun to mess with us, thankfully. Though it just ended up with us walking aimlessly for minutes on end. I felt useless doing this, while Mum was somewhere, locked up against her will. It nagged at me but there wasn't much more I could do for her.

Damien's voice called out. "HEY GUYS! I THINK I FOUND A LEAD!"

Me and Mother had heard him clearly. I looked to see if the others had also heard him but they were already walking over to his spot. I jogged to catch up with them and to see what Damien was yelling about. Everyone gathered around the boy as he tried to explain what he found.

Damien kicked the ground. "It was just here. It made a sound." He kicked again and a distinctive metal sound was heard. "Ha! Knew it!"  
Mother walked over to where Damien made the sound and examined the ground. "It feels like a metal plate or something."  
Aunt Weiss chimed in. "Maybe they're pipes?"  
Mother banged on it with her fist. Another knocking sound was made. "Can't be. It's too hollow." She turned towards me. "Caden, try using Thorn to see if you can get a hole in it."  
I pulled out my weapon. "I'll try. No promises though."

I then spent the next couple of minutes either trying to cut at it, or bash it with the spike on Thorn but nothing happened past scratching the now visible metal plate.

I gave up and lowered Thorn. "It's no use. I'm not making a dent in it."  
Natalia patted my back. "Well it was worth the try though."  
Mother wasn't ready to give up though. "It's hollow under that plate though. There has to be a reason for it."  
Lauro stepped up to plate, brandishing Tower in front of him. "How about I give it a shot? I could try super heating it through the dust in my sword."  
I nearly slapped myself for forgetting Lauro's semblance. "Good thinking. It's better than me just hitting it."  
Aunt Weiss was interested. "So your sword has dust containers?"  
Lauro shook his head. "No. The dust was added inside the metal when it was made."  
Aunt Weiss frowned. "You do know there's an official warning about using dust outside of regulations from the Schnee Dust Company, right?"  
Lauro just shrugged his shoulders. "It's more useful to me like this."  
The tired woman gave up. "Fine, I'll let it slide this time."

Lauro looked confused for a second but shrugged it off. He walked up to where the metal plate was and planted the tip on top of the biggest scratch I manged to create. His face broke into concentration as his sword started to glow red and orange. The heat started transferring into the metal, making it glow along with Tower. I could feel the heat hitting my face, even from what should have a been a safe distance. The metal was starting to turn white just as Lauro pulled his sword back so he wouldn't get burned. "Okay. Caden, give it the hardest hit you can give." I nodded and readied Thorn for a swing. With the blunt side going first, I pulled it over my head and slammed it into the plate. A groan was heard and the metal gave way to a hole big enough for us to fit through one at a time.

Mother looked impressed. "Good work, Lauro. I probably would have never thought to try something like that. Your parents must be proud."  
He gave a smile and nodded. "I try my best. But now we need to see what this is all about."

We all agreed with him and started lowering ourselves, one by one, into the hole. It seemed to be mostly a room with crates piled up against the walls. It was hot though, most likely because of Lauro and his sword. The hole provided a good amount of light but it was mostly only me and Mother who could see what was inside.

I looked around, scanning the crates. "It just looks like a storage room to me."  
Mother agreed. "Yea, the crates aren't labeled though, which is suspicious to me."  
Aunt Weiss slightly bumped into me. "Well I'm glad you two can see what is in here because I can't."  
I heard the rest of my team agree with her. Mother spoke up again. "Don't worry, Weiss. We won't be staying in here. There's a door on the far wall which might lead us to where we need to be."

Mother went ahead to the door, having everyone follow the sound of her steps while I stayed behind making sure nothing followed us into the hole we made. After I checked it out, I rejoined my group by the door and waited for Mother to make a move. She listened against the door, waited a bit, and then slowly opened it, checking whatever was on the other side.

Her head came back in the room. "Okay guys, it's just a clear hallway outside. I don't see anyone but make sure to stay quiet anyway. I'm sure there are people here and that there is more than just this hallway."

We all slowly walked out into the more liberally lit hallway. It was pretty bare, with nothing but metal walls and floors. Nothing in the hallway told us how to navigate it and it all seemed rather depressing. Mother was already moving down it though, intending to complete her mission. "Follow me. Stay down and behind me. I'm sure she's here somewhere."

* * *

**Inside an unspecified location.**

**Yang**

I tried pulling at my restraints again. The ropes didn't budge, just like the last fifty times I tried. The only change was that they started to hurt even more now. The room was left dark so I couldn't see anything past the five feet of light around me, provided by a single light above me. My head was still hurting from whatever they drugged me with. I was awake, thankfully, but I had no idea where I was. My legs were trapped by some metal cuffs stuck into the floor which kept me from resting my knees. It was oddly cold in here, oddly enough. It made me glad I still had my jacket on.

I was in the middle of trying to find a way to keep my knees from hurting when I heard a door close off in the darkness in front of me. I sat and waited for the person who drugged and kidnapped to show himself. Footsteps tapped against the floor with echos bouncing off what seemed to be bare walls. My ears manged to pick up a third tap hitting the floor. Everything in my body suddenly got very cold. I doubted this person had three feet to walk with and it was too lite of a tap to be a foot anyway. It sounded just like a... "Why hello Blondie! Enjoying your stay in your personal own prison?"

A head of orange hair broke through the darkness and in walked Roman Torchwick. He was older but his cane was the same. The criminal walked a circle around me, as if he was inspecting his captured prey. He stood in front of me and bent down and grabbed my face, turning it at random angles. I didn't want to be manhandled and tried to shake his hand loose. He just gripped harder, threatening to break my jaw as he kept looking at every detail on my face.

He stood with a satisfied smile. "Yep, you're definitely one of those brats. Took awhile but at least I got one of you."  
I tried and failed to stand. "Shouldn't you be in prison for life?"  
He leaned onto his cane. "Nah, turns out, not all of the guards like their jobs in that place. After a couple years in there, I made a friend who seemed to be a little naive. I gave him a sob story and next thing he knew, I was being driven off in a limo. Ha, it was great!"  
"What do you then? Are you still robbing stores like a small-time bandit?" He frowned at that.  
He walked closer to me. "I would watch your mouth if I were you. I'm not the one tied and locked down. Not to mention I know your whole little family. Even your little girl. What was her name? Casey or something?"  
I felt my blood boil over. "Were you the one that tried to kill her!? I swear, if you try anything again!"

He calmly strolled over next to me. I tried to turn my head but I couldn't before his cane was slammed into my shoulder. I doubled over in pain, trying to stay calm and keep my head in check.

"Mouth, Missie. And no, I didn't try to kill her. I was just extending my reach to show that not even your own daughter was safe from harm."  
I raised my head and saw his smug face. "Why do you even care? You already took part of my family!"  
He cocked his head to the side. "I'm not sure what you mean?"  
I nearly lost it again. "Ruby you fuck! You killed my sister! You don't even remember!?"  
"I'm not sure who that is. I usually remember if I've killed someone."  
I tried to break my restraints with a short lived burst of strength but still failed. "When we stopped you! You shot and killed her!"  
A smile broke wide on his face. "You mean Little Red? She died from that, eh. Ha! Such a stupid girl, jumping in front of me like that. Such a waste of time."  
I lost again. "YOU SON OF A BITCH! YOU'RE A DEAD MAN!"

He ignored my threats and kicked my stomach. I retched at the ground but nothing came up. My energy was losing it's boost from my anger and I started to slouch down.

He stepped around behind me. "I see you've calmed a bit. Good, good. Now it's my turn to give you the same treatment you gave me before I got arrested. I lost a lot of ground in my career after you four girls caught me at that damn store. People found out how I was stopped by four teenage girls who weren't past their first year of huntress training. It really hurt my reputation. I had to do some really careful planning just to get this base and henchmen. But now, I have you, and now I can start my revenge. It's a little trivial to want, but I've had a lot of time to think about it, and I've decided I really want to hurt you." I felt him grab the back of my jacket and clothes. A blade went through them, cutting them off my upper body. I flinched in pain as the blade didn't try all that hard to avoid cutting me. "That's better. Now you won't have any pesky clothes softening the pain."

I was about to say something but I felt his cane hit my back. _Fuck, that hurt! Don't say anything, Yang. _Another blow hit me with a smack. _Fight it back! _Torchwick took another swing. The blow pushed my body face first onto the ground through it's force alone, causing me to break my nose. I felt my eyes tearing up at the pain. Another strike hit me. A scream escaped my throat, letting the bastard know he was getting somewhere. I felt something run down my back from where he had hit me. A second later and I felt a white hot pain below my left shoulder blade. I couldn't see it, but I knew he had managed to split my skin with that last strike. A drop of blood ran off my side and hit the floor, confirming my thoughts. Another swing and his laugh sounded out as I screamed again. _Oh god, it hurts! Blake, please help me. I can't do anything.._

* * *

**I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. It definitely got longer than expected but I doubt you guys are complaining that much. As always, reviews are welcome and remember, Have Fun! **


	12. Fanning the Flame

**Woo! I got my laptop to run ubuntu from a flash drive just so I could write this chapter! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter because I may not make another one until my laptop is working properly again. **

* * *

**Caden**

Whoever made this place really didn't care for anything past the bare necessities needed to keep the keep the walls from caving in. It was a bit suffocating at first. I didn't turn to check but I felt that Natalia was having a tough time going down these hallways. Mother was slowly leading us around corners and through random doors, trying to find something to help us.

The only odd thing was that we hadn't ran into anyone. Not one guard or masked man has shown up. It was weird considering there were two airships with people stuffed into them. Not to mention odd quietness that was found inside these halls. Our adventure through this place was largely uneventful, with most doors leading to an empty room or crates. Every now and then we would find a non-working monitor that didn't help us very much on our search.

Mother quickly opened and closed a door. "Nothing again. Just some crates."  
Damien quickly questioned her. "Maybe there's something in them that could help us?"  
Aunt Weiss shot him down. "We checked the crates in the last room and they were empty. I bet the rest of them are empty also."  
"We haven't checked them yet." Damien countered.  
Mother interrupted the growing argument. "It'll waste too much time. Keep moving."

I felt the growing worry in Mother's voice. We spent a lot of time just aimlessly looking inside doors and she would visibly become agitated that we were getting nowhere. I wanted to say something to calm her down but I figured it would be useless, and besides, I was just as worried. Mum has been on tons of missions before but I doubt she was ever on the bad end of them. She started moving faster, trying to get around the next corner in hopes finding something.

I nearly ran into her as she stopped suddenly at the next corner. "Why did you stop like that."  
Mother put a hand on my mouth. "There's a door around the corner with light coming from the crack. Someones in there for sure."  
I tried to peek around the corner but Mother pushed my head back. "What do we do then?"  
She stood to move. "I'm going to go see if they can 'give' us information."

She quickly turned the corner and we followed to give her back-up. Aunt Weiss was staying close to her which seemed odd to me. Mother bashed the door open into the room where a man was sitting at a table. He jumped up and tried to run but Mother threw Gambol Shroud and wrapped its ribbon around him. She gave the ribbon rough pull and the man was next to her.

She put the last bit of the fabric around his neck. "You're going to tell me where they took her or I'm going to hang you with this ribbon!"  
He tried thrashing about but Mother just tightened the supposed noose. "I don't know what you're talking about!"  
Mother kneed his side. "Yang! Blond woman with long hair! We tracked her and the goons who kidnapped her back here. Tell me where she is now!"  
The man felt the black ribbon get even more snug. "He took her to the interrogation room! It's on the other side of the base, two lefts and right all the way down the hallway. It's locked but there's a security room right next to it that can unlock it!"  
Mother smiled at his helpfulness. "Thank you. One more question. Who is he?"  
"It's Roman Torchwick. This is his base!"

The man started struggling to escape again but Mother had heard enough apparently. After hearing that name, her face turned beastly and her grip on Gambol Shroud turned her hands red. The man gripped at the fabric, trying to loosen it. His face was turning red and he struggled to breath. Aunt Weiss rushed over and shook Mother, trying to snap her out of it. Mother realized what she was doing and pulled the ribbon off of the struggling man. He fell to the ground, completely passed out.

Aunt Weiss put both her hands on Mother's shoulders. "Are you okay? You just nearly killed that guy."  
Mother re-wrapped Gambol Shroud. "You heard him Weiss. It's Torchwick who's behind this."  
"I know Blake, but that man didn't need to be nearly killed like that." The white-haired woman was right.  
Mother shook her head. "He was helping that murderer. Like I cared about what happens to him."  
I was curious about this Roman guy. "Who is Torchwick?"  
Aunt Weiss gave me a pained look and turned to Mother. "You're the parent, Blake."  
Mother sighed. "He's the criminal we stopped in the dust shop robbery. The same one who killed Ruby."

I thought about what she said for a second. It felt hard to believe that this man was trying to hurt her family again. I never personally met or known Aunt Ruby, and because of that, it seemed only like a story up until know. But after seeing the pained look in Aunt Weiss's eyes while Mother told me this, it all seemed a lot more real to me. Now he was back and took someone I actually knew, my Mum. The thought didn't make me sad though, it just made me angry. Angry at this Torchwick person, who took my mother right in front of me.

Mother gave me a quick hug. "Don't worry though, Caden. We're nearly there. We know where she is now."

Aunt Weiss bent down and turned the passed out man onto his back so his face wasn't painfully stuck against the ground. It was an odd gesture but I guess it was an apology from her after Mother nearly killed him. Mother didn't acknowledge the motion and started going to the door. Aunt Weiss just followed her and waved for me to stay with them. I turned and looked at my team. They all didn't seem to affected by what happened. Damien seemed a little pale but his face didn't show any stress. Lauro and Natalia just looked at me, shrugging their shoulders. I let out a breath and started after Mother.

The first two couple of turns happened fast but the hallway until the third was longer than any of the others we had seen so far. Mother and Aunt Weiss were walking at a steady pace talking quietly between each other about something. I probably could have heard what they were saying but I chose to block it out. I've been punished indirectly before for eavesdropping on my parents when I tried to hear what they were talking about in their room. I didn't hear any talking and I just went back to my room. Curiosity does kill the cat it seemed.

I decided to take advantage of the hallways length and slowed me and my team down so we were a small distance away from my family so we could talk.

Before I could say anything, Natalia was the questions. "Are you feeling alright, Caden? You started making a face back there."  
I shook my head. "One of my parents was kidnapped. I'm not doing all that well right now. But I should be asking you guys the same thing."  
Natalia looked ahead to Mother. "I can understand why your mom nearly killed that man. My father has told so many stories about violence against Faunus. She probably has a lot of built up emotions from it. Your other mom being kidnapped is probably pushing her resolve."  
I nodded. "Most likely, but again, I asked if everyone was doing okay. Damien? Lauro?"  
Lauro gave a thumbs up but Damien didn't react much. He looked at me. "I'm doing okay. It's just that all I've been exposed to is just regular training. This is a huge jump up the ladder for us."  
I understood. "It's the same for all of us, Damien. This is our team's first real mission. Think of it on the bright side. We'll most likely be the only first year team with real experience past Vale 'patrols.'"  
Natalia laughed at that. "I just hope we can get some good rest when we get back. It's been a tiring day."

Damien finally popped a smile at that and agreed. Our conversation was enough to make the seemingly long walk down the hallway pass by easily. In fact, we nearly passed our turn but Mother was nice enough to call out, making us scramble to turn around and get around the corner. She didn't seem amused about our mistake though. "Pay more attention. We don't know how many people are actually here." She turned and started walking again. I shrugged and we silently followed her.

We eventually arrived at a fork in the hallway. The guy that gave us the information didn't mention anything like this and it stumped us. Mother opted to have all of us explore both paths before we make our decisions. The first one we traveled only led us to a set of locked double doors. They were pretty sturdy, being covered by metal and such. I doubted we could have forced it open even if all of us tried forcing it. My shoulder hurt just looking at it. Before we left to go back down the other path I could have sworn I heard a laugh behind it. Mother's ears twitched and I guess she heard it to.

Heading down the last path led us a to an open room with a desk and some monitors lining it. There was a console on the opposite side of the room across from the desk with multiple buttons and switches. Each monitor showed a different room or hallway inside the base. I didn't recognize any of them except for one with an unconscious man inside a room. If anyone was watching these then we would have been caught by now. This Torchwick person must be really low on man power. For all I know, the force that attacked us was all that he had at hand. One monitor was off for some reason but I paid it no mind.

Aunt Weiss looked over the console and monitors. "I guess this is the security room we were told about."  
Natalia was looking over the labels on the buttons. "These aren't helping anything though. We don't know the name of the door we want to open."  
Mother didn't want to hear it. "Well it's close to the security room so maybe the buttons are close together."

I didn't see much reason to dispute her logic so I had me and my team try to find the door on the console. It was surprisingly tough to find when surrounded by all the other buttons. Eventually we found it though. After finding the security rooms label, it took me a bit before I could see the potential button we needed. Written in horrible hand-writing was a label for the "Intero Room." I pressed it and a red light above it turned green. I could only guess that it meant it was unlocked now.

I turned around to where Mother and Aunt Weiss were looking over the monitors. "I think I found it! The door should be unlocked now." They both turned around like they were surprised by my presence. I saw a monitor click off behind them and they looked like they were trying to hide a pained look on their faces. It seemed suspicious but the situation was a tough one.

Mother started toward the exit at a jog. "Lets go then!" Aunt Weiss didn't wait for us to start moving, choosing to follow almost right behind Mother. We followed them all the way back to the now unlocked door. It didn't look any different but Mother tested it by barely pulling the opening lever to see if it budged. She didn't want to go inside just yet.

She gave my team a hard look. "I know Yang is in there. We're getting her and leaving. The thing is though, only me and Weiss are going in to get her."  
I got angry immediately. "What do you mean? We came all this way and you only want Aunt Weiss with you? Why bother bringing us at all?"  
She looked back at the door. "It was a quick change in plans. Besides, it may pay off to have people outside guarding the exit."  
I looked at Aunt Weiss who tried to avoid my eyes. "Even you know this could be a bad idea, right?"  
She didn't say anything. Mother turned back towards the door. "Listen to me on this, Caden. Just stay out here and watch our exit."

She didn't give me much chance to argue past that before she and Aunt Weiss went through and closed the door on me. I tried to open it again but there must have been a lock on the other side. My team all gave me looks and I guess it meant that my frustration was showing on my face. I didn't wait for any of them to say anything and rushed back to the security room without hesitation. I didn't care what my mother said, I was here to help my family. I didn't come all the way here to sit outside a door.

I busted into the security, heading straight for the console, looking for the button to unlock the door again. Everyone else soon arrived inside the room watching me frantically search. I found it way faster than I did last time and pressed it, the light switching from red to green. A smile broke out on my face and I started back toward the door only to be blocked by Natalia.

She grabbed my shoulder. "Stop, Caden!"  
I tried to get past her. "Why? They need our help!"  
She shook her head. "They're way more experienced than us. I'm sure they can handle themselves. We probably would have just got in the way."  
My mind tried to ignore her logic. "We're more useful in there rather than a hallway!"  
She shook her head and pulled me away from the door. "There's probably a reason she decided to go in without us. I say we trust her judgement."

Natalia's reasoning reminded me of something. I turned away from her and walked over to the monitors. All of them were on, showing the different rooms just like before, except for the one dark monitor in the middle of them. I got near it and found the power button. It clicked in and the screen flashed on. It was showing a dark room with only one light in the middle. But what was in the middle of that light nearly made me break the monitor. I saw Mum laying on the ground, beaten, bruised, and covered in blood. Cuts lined her back and her hair was soaked red. I knew she was alive though, because she would occasionally move an arm or some other body part. It didn't make me sad or worried or anything like that. Instead, I just got angry, punching a different monitor, causing my team to stare me down.

I didn't want them to see what I did and turned the monitor off and looked at them. "We're definitely going in there now. No arguments will be made. As leader of this team, I'm deciding what's best, not for us, but for others. Got it?"  
Natalia wanted to say something but I glared at her. She backed off toward Lauro.  
Damien was digging in a crate that was hidden a corner. "Hey guys! Jackpot!" He held up a red dust container, filled to the brim with the substance."  
Lauro reached out for it. "You might want to be careful with that, Damien. It's usually a bad idea to store dust like that."  
Damien just looked at it. "I've never seen so much like this."  
I reached out and took it from him and examined it. "You know, this could be really useful for us."  
I must have had a very weird look in my eyes because Natalia shook me a little. "Are you okay, Caden?"  
I just turned back towards the blank monitor. "I would say I'm doing just fine, Natalia. Guys, we're going to go back up my family. I'll explain when we get there."

I gave the dust container to Lauro since he had more experience with the stuff. I looked my team over and gave them the signal to follow me to the interrogation room.

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**Okay, there isn't much left in the story now. I don't have anything written past this chapter yet but it may last around two more chapters based on where I plan to go with it. After that, I don't know what to write. Like my update said before I deleted it, you guys are free to send me ideas about what I could write based off of this little universe like I did for "The Silent Heiress." I'll probably be very selective on what I choose if I do get any messages but don't let that discourage you. As always, reviews are welcome and greatly appreciated. And remember, HAVE FUN!**


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